BY a vote of 215 congressmen, the House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte on several counts last year. But the Senate, which has the sole power to try and decide all impeachment cases, failed to convene as an impeachment court, and the Supreme Court ruled the impeachment complaint, the fourth such complaint filed against the same official within a year, was unconstitutional. The Constitution does not allow an impeachment proceeding to be initiated against the same official more than once a year.
But a new complaint could be filed against the vice president after the lapse of one year. So, several complaints were filed against Duterte on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, the same date an impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was being heard by the House committee on justice.
The complainants alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes. The central issue revolves around Duterte’s alleged misuse of her “confidential funds” as vice president and erstwhile secretary of the Department of Education. This refers to a special item in the budget, which certain officials, beginning with the president, are allowed to use for certain specialized purposes without being subjected to the regular auditing procedure. Sara’s accusers, however, wanted her to be subjected to a different rule altogether. As such, she would be the only high official whose “confidential funds” would be subjected to regular auditing.
The basic issue, however, begins with her impeachment per se. Is there a real need to impeach the vice president? As US Justice Joseph Story famously puts it, impeachment is a political process intended not so much to punish an offender as to secure the state against gross political misdemeanors. It touches neither his person nor his property, but simply divests him of his political capacity. A vice president has no real duties under the Constitution, except to succeed the president if he dies or resigns or is removed or permanently incapacitated; he represents no permanent harm to the functioning of the executive order.
Sara, however, represents a real threat to the presidency. As the incumbent vice president, with high popularity ratings, she is the leading presidential contender in the 2018 presidential elections, when Marcos Jr. steps down after his single term, without any proposed or intended successor. The only way to remove Sara from the presidential race is to disqualify her from running, assuming she remains in good health, and her acceptance rating holds up. This can only be done by removing her by impeachment. But the conditions obtaining in Congress today are not the same as those obtaining last year. The second impeachment complaint against Sara may not succeed.
The only other way to remove her is by abolishing the elections themselves, by changing the presidential system into a parliamentary system. Previous efforts to prepare former House speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s first cousin, to become prime minister in such a shift to parliamentary government, have failed. Marcos was forced to remove Romualdez from the speakership, in the wake of the multibillion-peso flood control corruption scandal that has threatened to bring down his government. Romualdez has not completely lost his power or influence or his material wealth, but he is hardly mentioned as a possible player in 2028. Neither has Marcos Jr. revealed his own plans on whom to back in that contest. One thing is certain — his elder sister Imee Marcos, who is a ranking member of the Senate, has taken a strong position against her own brother, and would certainly be standing with Sara, if she runs for president.
