VP Duterte asks Supreme Court to void her impeachment and block Senate trial

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte asked the Supreme Court yesterday to void her impeachment and block a Senate trial that could remove her from office.

The House of Representatives, which is dominated by the allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., impeached Duterte on Feb. 5 over accusations that included plotting to assassinate the president and large-scale corruption. The Senate was expected to turn itself into an impeachment court to try Duterte after Congress resumes June 2.

The vice president, through her lawyers, asked the 15-member high court to annul her impeachment and block the trial because its initiation “was procedurally defective, constitutionally infirm and jurisdictionally void.”

Lawyer Israelito Torreon told reporters the complaint was sent to the Senate too fast for some of the House signees to study it.

“This is part of a plan probably to eliminate her as a probable contender” in the 2028 presidential elections, Torreon said, saying it could not be described as anything other than political persecution.

A conviction in the Senate trial would bar her from holding public office.

The impeachment complaint focused on Duterte’s statements at a Nov. 23 online news conference that she would have the president, his wife and cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez assassinated if she herself was killed in their escalating political feud. She has denied that she meant to threaten to kill them.

She was also accused of misusing intelligence funds as vice president and as education secretary before she has resigned from that position as her alliance with the president crumbled last year. She has not publicly provided a detailed response to accusations of graft and corruption.

Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, ran as Marcos’ vice presidential running mate in 2022, but their alliance quickly frayed.

While campaigning for senatorial candidates in May 12 midterm elections, Marcos has been publicly denouncing the bloody anti-drugs crackdown and failure of his predecessor to denounce China’s hostile actions against Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea without naming the Dutertes.

Last week, Rodrigo Duterte said during a campaign rally that 15 senators should be killed to free up more vacancies for his allies in the midterms. Police filed criminal complaints Monday against the former president over those statements. MDT/AP