5 things to know about the impeached VP
VICE President Sara Duterte was riding high not so long ago, sailing to a landslide 2022 election victory with her then-ally and fellow political scion Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Less than three years later, the alliance between their powerful families lies in ruins and she is facing a battle for her political life in a Senate impeachment trial, accused of fraud, corruption and plotting to assassinate her former running mate. The 46-year-old lawyer and mother of three, tattooed and fond of motorcycles, is the eldest daughter of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and goes by the nickname Inday Sara. She punched her way into the national consciousness in 2011 while mayor of the family's southern stronghold of Davao, slugging a sheriff as television cameras rolled when he ignored her plea to delay the court-ordered demolition of a slum community. It established her credentials as a politician who would fight for the poor — a huge voting demographic in the archipelago nation of 117 million. As her popular father's presidency entered its final months, she surged in the polls to become the frontrunner in the May 2022 presidential election. But in a shock last-minute deal, she agreed to step aside and run as vice president alongside Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the man who ruled the Philippines for 20 years before his toppling in 1986. Why is she being impeached? On Wednesday, 215 members of the 306-seat House of Representatives voted to impeach Duterte, charging her with "violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes." The 44-page document accused her of hiding unexplained wealth, the murder of drug users while mayor of Davao, and plotting the assassination of President Marcos and members of his family. While Marcos has previously disavowed the impeachment movement, his cousin and fellow assassination plot target, Speaker Martin Romualdez, is the man who managed the process that has led to her looming trial. Duterte was already the subject of a House investigation into her spending habits, and three separate complaints were filed against her in December. What happened to the Marcos alliance? Cracks in the Marcos-Duterte "Unity" alliance were visible within days of their landslide victory in the 2022 presidential election. Marcos embarrassed Duterte when he refused to give her the defense portfolio she had publicly lobbied for, instead naming her education secretary. Later accused of mishandling her budget, Duterte resigned the Cabinet post in June 2024, at which point the long-simmering resentments exploded. Former president Duterte stoked the flames by calling President Marcos a "drug addict" and urging the military and police to take over the government.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
VICE President Sara Duterte was riding high not so long ago, sailing to a landslide 2022 election victory with her then-ally and fellow political scion Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Less than three years later, the alliance between their powerful families lies in ruins and she is facing a battle for her political life in a Senate impeachment trial, accused of fraud, corruption and plotting to assassinate her former running mate.
The 46-year-old lawyer and mother of three, tattooed and fond of motorcycles, is the eldest daughter of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and goes by the nickname Inday Sara.
She punched her way into the national consciousness in 2011 while mayor of the family's southern stronghold of Davao, slugging a sheriff as television cameras rolled when he ignored her plea to delay the court-ordered demolition of a slum community.
It established her credentials as a politician who would fight for the poor — a huge voting demographic in the archipelago nation of 117 million.
As her popular father's presidency entered its final months, she surged in the polls to become the frontrunner in the May 2022 presidential election.
But in a shock last-minute deal, she agreed to step aside and run as vice president alongside Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the man who ruled the Philippines for 20 years before his toppling in 1986.
Why is she being impeached?
On Wednesday, 215 members of the 306-seat House of Representatives voted to impeach Duterte, charging her with "violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes."
The 44-page document accused her of hiding unexplained wealth, the murder of drug users while mayor of Davao, and plotting the assassination of President Marcos and members of his family.
While Marcos has previously disavowed the impeachment movement, his cousin and fellow assassination plot target, Speaker Martin Romualdez, is the man who managed the process that has led to her looming trial.
Duterte was already the subject of a House investigation into her spending habits, and three separate complaints were filed against her in December.
What happened to the Marcos alliance?
Cracks in the Marcos-Duterte "Unity" alliance were visible within days of their landslide victory in the 2022 presidential election.
Marcos embarrassed Duterte when he refused to give her the defense portfolio she had publicly lobbied for, instead naming her education secretary.
Later accused of mishandling her budget, Duterte resigned the Cabinet post in June 2024, at which point the long-simmering resentments exploded.
Former president Duterte stoked the flames by calling President Marcos a "drug addict" and urging the military and police to take over the government.
