The Philippine Supreme Court has blocked an impeachment trial against Sara Duterte, marking a victory for the country’s vice-president.
The lower house of the Philippine parliament had voted to impeach Duterte in February after she was accused of misusing public funds and threatening to kill President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
But a court spokesperson told reporters on Friday the impeachment vote violated a constitutional ban on having multiple impeachment proceedings in a year.
At a press conference on Friday, the court said it was not absolving Duterte of the charges she faces. But the ruling means she has been granted a reprieve from possible ousting, at least until February 2026.
This also gives her more time to gather support for a possible presidential run in the crucial run-up years to the 2028 general elections.
Had the impeachment vote gone against her, Duterte would not have been able to run for president.
The ruling is the latest development in the dramatic Duterte-Marcos saga, which has seen them go from allies to foes. Both children of powerful former leaders, the two had joined hands in 2022 to form a political super alliance known as the “Uniteam”.
But after the duo swept to victory, the cracks soon began to appear.
A war of words that saw even Sara’s father Rodrigo Duterte call Marcos a “drug addict” reached a climax last November, when she made a Facebook post claiming that if she were to be killed she had “spoken to a person” to ensure the President was killed too. This comment triggered the impeachment proceedings against her.
Things then became even more personal when Sara’s father was suddenly extradited to the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity for his notorious war on drugs, which is believed to have killed thousands of people.
But even before this ruling, the odds of convicting Sara in the Senate impeachment court, or even starting the proceedings, was uncertain due to shifting political alliances that followed the general election in May.
The feud between Duterte and Marcos had dominated the election, and Duterte won more seats in the Senate than expected, in what was seen as a rebuff of the incumbent.
The 15-member Supreme Court is dominated by appointees of Sara’s father.
Impeachment proceedings are extremely divisive in Philippine’s chaotic political landscape. Since the restoration of democracy to the country in 1986, only one such attempt has successfully ended with a verdict – that of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was convicted of hiding his assets in 2012.
Former president Joseph Estrada’s impeachment for alleged graft was cut short in 2001, after public anger over the conduct of the trial sparked massive street protests that eventually led to his ouster.
