Philippine VP Sara Duterte's impeachment trial to open next week
Two-thirds Senate majority is needed for conviction, but allies make it unlikely to pass
Philippine lawmakers are set to open an impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte next week, officials said Thursday of the second attempt to force her from office.
Two-thirds of the 24-seat Senate would be needed to convict her, but that chamber is controlled by party affiliates and allies, which makes a conviction appear to be unlikely.
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Duterte, daughter of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, was impeached or formally accused Monday of graft charges and an alleged assassination plot against former ally President Ferdinand Marcos.
Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment triggers a trial in the Senate, where a guilty verdict would see her removed and banned from elected office for life.
Sara Duterte has announced a 2028 presidential bid that would be derailed if she were to be convicted.
The senators will be sworn in Monday as an impeachment court, and a summons will be sent to the vice president the following day, before the hearing of the evidence begins, Senate president Alan Peter Cayetano told a news conference.
"There always has to be legal grounds, and I will decide based on truth and evidence," Cayetano said.
While the vice president only needs nine votes from the full 24-seat Senate for an acquittal, conviction on any of the four charges would mean her removal and a permanent ban from public office.
Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, told AFP the Senate is now even more in Duterte's favour after candidates loyal to their family won five of 12 open seats in May 2025's mid-term elections.
"Even last time, they already had the numbers to acquit. Those nine supporters were solid and didn't waver. In this new regime, they just got bigger and stronger, more certain," Yusingco said.
While Duterte would likely be acquitted based on party affiliation or alliances in the Senate, other analysts say an open trial would lead to the public display of evidence that they said could damage her popularity.
This would be the second time a Senate court would convene to tackle the impeachment of Duterte.
Last year, senators donned robes and convened a court on live television only to send the case back to the House of Representatives in a decision one lawmaker called a "functional dismissal".
On Monday, the senate elected Cayetano, a long-time ally of the Dutertes, as its new president.
