Philippine vice president impeached over Marcos assassination remark and other allegations
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte was impeached Wednesday on a range of accusations that include plotting to assassinate the president.
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte was impeached Wednesday on a range of accusations that include plotting to assassinate the president, large-scale corruption and failing to strongly denounce China’s aggressive actions against Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea.
The move by legislators in the House of Representatives, many of them allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., deepens a bitter political rift between the two highest leaders of one of Asia’s most rambunctious democracies.
Marcos has strengthened defense ties with his country’s treaty ally, the United States, while the vice president’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cozy relations with China and Russia during his stormy term that ended in 2022.
Sara Duterte did not immediately comment on her impeachment, but her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte, said it was “a clear act of political persecution.” Rival lawmakers maneuvered to quickly collect signatures and push a “baseless impeachment case” to the Senate, he said.
Duterte has repeatedly accused Marcos, his wife and his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, of corruption, weak leadership and attempting to muzzle her because of speculation she may seek the presidency in 2028 after Marcos’s six-year term ends.
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