Overview
- Lawmakers voted 255–26 with nine abstentions on Monday to impeach Sara Duterte and transmit the articles to the Senate for trial.
- Hours before the vote, senators replaced Senate President Vicente Sotto III with Alan Peter Cayetano, a Duterte ally who would preside over any trial, injecting uncertainty over timing and rules.
- Conviction requires 16 of the 24 senators and would remove Duterte from office and bar her from holding elected posts for life.
- The articles allege misuse of confidential funds and unexplained wealth, citing bank transfers over $110 million flagged by the anti‑money‑laundering agency, and they also reference death‑threat remarks toward President Marcos, his wife, and a former House speaker.
- Duterte denies wrongdoing and calls the case political, her lawyers say they are ready for a Senate defense, and analysts say any public trial could sway views of her 2028 presidential bid after a 2025 impeachment was voided on a technicality.