Philippine Senate opens Duterte impeachment trial in political showdown

The Philippine Senate opened Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on May 18, turning a legal proceeding into a high-stakes contest over the country’s political future. The case threatens not only Duterte’s grip on power as vice president, but also the alignment of rival camps ahead of the 2028 presidential race, where she is widely seen as the strongest challenger to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who cannot seek another term.

The House of Representatives transmitted the Articles of Impeachment on May 13 at 7:22 p.m., sending the Senate a case built on allegations of misuse of confidential or public funds, unexplained wealth, and threats against Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. The House backed the move by 257-25-9 in local tally, while Reuters counted 255 lawmakers in support, both far above the one-third threshold needed to send the case to trial. Duterte denied wrongdoing and her legal team called the complaint defective and a fishing expedition.

The trial arrived after months of political strain in the upper chamber. A leadership shift in the Senate placed Alan Peter Cayetano in position to preside over the impeachment court, a change that followed the re-emergence of Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a pro-Duterte senator whose return helped reshape the chamber’s balance. The maneuvering underscored how the proceeding is being treated as both a constitutional test and a battlefield for the Duterte and Marcos blocs.

The pressure on the Senate intensified as about 26 law deans and professors urged lawmakers not to delay convening as an impeachment court. They warned that refusing to sit would violate the 1987 Constitution, after the chamber had already drawn criticism for its handling of the matter in 2025. The Senate archived Duterte’s first impeachment case in August 2025 after the Supreme Court blocked the trial, making this the second, more volatile attempt to hold her accountable.

The stakes extend beyond one officeholder. Duterte, 47, signaled on February 18 that she intended to run for president in 2028, a bid that would be reshaped if the trial removes her or leaves her politically weakened. For the Duterte family, the case lands alongside Rodrigo Duterte’s separate International Criminal Court trial over the drug war killings during his 2016-2022 presidency. Together, the proceedings have turned one vice president’s impeachment into a broader reckoning over dynastic power, institutional authority and the next presidential order in the Philippines.