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Philippines’ impeachment showdown: why removing VP Sara could be uphill battle

Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio did not attend the opening of her impeachment trial on Monday, leaving her lawyers to fight charges that, if upheld, could…

By Samantha Johnson / July 6, 2026
Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio did not attend the opening of her impeachment trial on Monday, leaving her lawyers to fight charges that, if upheld, could remove her from office, permanently bar her from politics and reshape the 2028 presidential race.

Legal experts told This Week in Asia they expected Duterte-Carpio to be difficult, though not impossible, to convict despite the gravity of the charges because prosecutors would need at least 16 senators – two-thirds of the chamber – to vote against her and the Senate line-up remained fluid.

The House of Representatives impeached her on May 11 for culpable violation of the 1987 constitution by allegedly misusing 612.5 million pesos in confidential funds in her office and while she was education secretary.

She was also accused of amassing billions of pesos in unexplained wealth beyond what she had declared in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, and of failing to divest business interests as required by law.

While education secretary, she also allegedly bribed subordinates with cash to persuade them to circumvent procurement rules.

Finally, she was accused of arranging for someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, his wife and the speaker of the House if she herself were killed.

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