• Philippine lawmakers overwhelmingly vote to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte.
• Impeachment alleges misuse of public funds and threats against President Marcos.
• The Senate trial could jeopardize Duterte's presidential ambitions for 2028.
• 255 lawmakers supported the impeachment, surpassing the required one-third threshold.
• Duterte's legal team describes the impeachment as politically motivated.

On May 11, Philippine lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, with the decision poised to severely impact her aspirations for the presidency in 2028. The impeachment, receiving support from 255 of 318 lawmakers, centers on accusations that she misused public funds, engaged in bribery, and threatened the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife, and others, as reported by Le Monde, Al Jazeera, and Reuters.

The impeachment vote proceeds as a significant setback for the Duterte family, particularly as Sara Duterte is seen as a key contender to succeed Marcos, who is constitutionally restricted to a single term. The impeachment process, reinvigorated this year, follows a previous attempt in 2025 that was nullified by the Supreme Court due to procedural errors, according to South China Morning Post and Channel News Asia.

In a sign of the political climate’s volatility, Duterte’s legal team has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, characterizing the impeachment as a “fishing expedition” motivated by political rivalries rather than substantive evidence. The proceedings will now move to the Senate, which must convene a trial for Duterte, where a conviction would result in her removal from office and a lifelong ban from holding public office, as stated by South China Morning Post and BBC.

The tension between Duterte and Marcos escalates as she has previously alleged mistreatment and political sabotage in her role as vice-president. The upcoming Senate trial, now potentially influenced by new leadership, as Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has been voted in as Senate president—a loyalist to the Duterte family—could shift the proceedings in her favor, reports Reuters and Channel News Asia.