Clash Between President and Vice President Leads to Impeachment in the Philippines

By Lauren Ho

Amidst growing conflict and corruption claims, the Philippine vice president and daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, Sara Duterte, has been voted to be impeached by the Philippines’ parliament. What began in 2022 as what seemed to be a unified presidential campaign by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with Duterte running as the vice-presidential candidate, a clash between Marcos and Duterte became apparent immediately. Duterte was installed as education minister initially despite her stated desire to assist with the defense portfolio. The allyship continued to deteriorate as Marcos and Duterte pursued their own political agendas separately. However, the most notable disparities came when Marcos broke away from Rodrigo Duterte’s pro-China stance and a less violent method of dealing with drug trafficking.

Concerns initially arose regarding Duterte’s use of public funds while holding the education minister position. Duterte was making budget requests and avoiding public scrutiny by hiding them in confidential funds. Upon hearing the concerns, Marcos’ allies in the lower house of parliament began conducting an audit and as a result Duterte eventually resigned from the education cabinet. However, the decision for an impeachment vote came when Duterte made a public statement claiming to have spoken to someone about having Marcos killed if she is assassinated. Duterte claims she is being politically persecuted and that she was not making threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. A date has not been set for the impeachment vote and until then Duterte is anticipated to remain as vice-president.