Philippine groups to seek impeachment of Vice President Duterte

An alliance of civil society groups in the Philippines will on Monday file an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, according to parliamentary group Akbayan party-list, which said its lawmaker would endorse it.

Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, has been embroiled in a bitter row with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and is the subject of a house inquiry into her spending. She denies wrongdoing.

Akbayan in a statement said the "historic impeachment complaint" would be submitted to the lower house by civil society organizations, religious leaders, sectoral representatives and families of victims of her father's bloody war on drugs, under which thousands were killed.

It did not elaborate on what the grounds for impeachment were. The vice president could not immediately be reached for comment.

The bid is the latest twist in a high-profile row being played out publicly between three of the Philippines highest office-holders following the collapse of a powerful alliance between their families that led to Marcos' landslide win in the 2022 election.

Sara Duterte recently said she had contracted someone to kill Marcos, his wife and house speaker Martin Romualdez – the president's cousin – if she herself were to be killed. She later said the remarks had been taken out of context.

Marcos on Friday said any impeachment complaint against his estranged vice president would only distract Congress and not help people, in remarks that drew criticism from some lawmakers.