Philippine Vice President Duterte faces impeachment complaint over threat

An impeachment complaint has been filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing a legal storm over a death threat she made against the President, the alleged misuse of government funds by her office and other criminal accusations.

The impeachment bid filed by several prominent opponents and activists in the House of Representatives accuses Ms Duterte of violating the country’s Constitution, massive corruption and other “high crimes”, including the death threats she made against the President, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Vice President’s threats showed the “extent of respondent’s mental incapacity, her depravity and lack of mental fitness to continue holding the high office of Vice President of the Philippines,” said a copy of the complaint seen by reporters.

“The same constitute not only betrayal of public trust but also a high crime which would warrant her immediate impeachment from office.”

Ms Duterte, a 46-year-old lawyer, was also accused in the complaint of having unexplained wealth and of allowing the extra-judicial killings of drug suspects begun by her father, Rodrigo Duterte, a former president and previously the mayor of southern Davao City, when she held that position in the past.

The Vice President’s legal troubles have unfolded against the backdrop of her increasingly bitter political feud with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his allies.

She said in online news conference on November 23 that she has contracted an assassin to kill Mr Marcos, his wife and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez if she were killed, a threat she warned was not a joke.

Ms Duterte later said she was not threatening the President but was expressing concern for her own safety.

The impeachment complaint will be scrutinised by the Philippine Congress, which is dominated by allies of Mr Marcos and his cousin and key backer, Mr Romualdez, who has also been politically at odds with the Vice President.

The process could take weeks or months. Congress is to start its Christmas recess on December 20 and resume on January 13. Many legislators will then start campaigning for re-election before May 12 mid-term elections.

The House has been investigating the alleged misuse of 612.5 million pesos (£8.1 million) of confidential and intelligence funds received by Ms Duterte’s offices as Vice President and education secretary. She has since left the education post.

Ms Duterte has refused to respond to questions in detail in tense televised hearings. She also vehemently protested when her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, was ordered temporarily detained for allegedly hampering the inquiry. Ms Lopez has been released from hospital detention.

Philippine police have filed criminal complaints against Ms Duterte and her security staff for allegedly assaulting authorities and disobeying orders in an altercation in Congress over Ms Lopez’s detention.

Ms Duterte has accused Mr Marcos, his wife and Mr Romualdez of corruption, weak leadership and attempting to muzzle her because of speculation she may seek the presidency in 2028.

The National Bureau of Investigation subpoenaed Ms Duterte to face investigators about her threats against them.

The police, military and the national security adviser immediately boosted the security of the Marcoses after the threats.

The president has said an impeachment of Ms Duterte would waste time while the country faces other challenges, but her opponents have said they will proceed to foster accountability and the rule of law.

Mr Marcos and Ms Duterte won landslide victories as running mates in the 2022 election but have since fallen out over key differences. The two offices are elected separately in the Philippines, which has resulted in rivals occupying the country’s top political posts.

Mr Marcos and Ms Duterte differ on their approaches to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and their views on the deadly anti-drug crackdown conducted by Ms Duterte’s father, Rodrigo Duterte, who was the previous president in addition to ex-mayor of Davo.

The brutal crackdown left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead in killings mostly by police that are being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.