Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte's high-stakes feud with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has escalated, with civil society groups filing a complaint on Dec 2 calling for her impeachment as the 2025 midterm election approaches.
Various organisations identified with the opposition movement critical of both the Duterte and Marcos factions filed the complaint against the Vice-President in the House of Representatives.
They have accused her of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust and other high crimes.
At the centre of the impeachment complaint are accusations that Ms Duterte, 46, misused over 775 million pesos (S$17.75 million) of funds intended for sensitive and classified purposes.
The funds were disbursed in 2022 and 2023 to the Office of the Vice-President and Department of Education, which she headed until her resignation from the Marcos Cabinet in June.
Lawmakers have already started investigating Ms Duterte over the same funds, but she has so far refused to explain how the money was spent, branding the probe as political harassment.
The Straits Times has asked Ms Duterte's office for comment, but there is no response yet.
The complaint's filing comes just over a week after Ms Duterte shocked the nation in a midnight rant livestreamed via Zoom on Nov 23 that she had hired an assassin to kill Mr Marcos and his wife, as well as his cousin, the House Speaker, should she end up dead.
This story is from the December 03, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the December 03, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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