On February 5, 2025, the lower house of the 19th Congress of the Philippines passed a measure to formally impeach the sitting Vice President of the Philippines, Sara Duterte-Carpio, on counts of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, bribery, as well as graft and corruption. This makes Sara Duterte the first Philippine Vice President to be impeached.
A clinched decision narrowly missing the deadline before the session break, a total of 215 lawmakers voted to pass the measure, way more than the 102 votes required for the measure to pass, with none voting against it and 60 abstentions. Despite this, nothing seems to be happening yet, which left many wondering: What exactly happens during an impeachment?
IMPEACHMENT: What it is and its brief history
Impeachment is the power of the Congress to formally charge certain public officials with impeachable offenses, upon which a trial will be held to either disqualify, convict, or otherwise inflict a penalty upon an official when they are found guilty. A full impeachment process occurs in two stages: the first being a formal charge being passed by the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives (HOR), and the second being the trial held by the Senate where the accused stands to be grilled on their guilt.
Impeachable offenses include deliberate breaches of the constitution, the betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, bribery, and treason. Only one impeachment complaint may be filed against a public official in one year, which was why the House of Representatives combined the complaints filed by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Magdalo, and other civil society leaders.
Only a few officials in the country can actually face the impeachment process, them being: the President and Vice President, Supreme Court Justices, officials from Constitutional Commissions (the Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit, and Civil Service Commission), and the Ombudsman.
To date, only 5 public officials have ever been officially impeached, the others being Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, the first Philippine president and public official ever impeached; Former Ombudsman Merceditas Guiterrez; Arroyo’s Chief Justice Renato Corona; former COMELEC Chairman Andres Bautista; and of course Vice President Sara Duterte. Of these officials, only Renato Corona has ever faced, and been convicted by a full impeachment trial, with all others resigning from their posts before facing senate trial (except for Estrada, who left office after the second EDSA revolution).
Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno also faced impeachment, but this was aborted due to a quo-warranto petition passing, removing her from office and making the trial moot.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
With Senate President Chiz Escudero declaring that no impeachment trial nor a special session will occur over the session break, Sara Duterte-Carpio will stay in her position until at least June 2, 2025, upon the resumption of the 19th Congress. This gives the current Senate only 6 session days to hold the Vice President’s impeachment trial, before June 13, 2025 when the 19th Congress officially adjourns to give way to the 20th Congress, which is projected to be filled with Marcos and Duterte-aligned lawmakers.
The impeachment trial would most probably find it difficult to reach the Supermajority (two-thirds) required to formally remove her from office, compared to the mere one-third required to charge her in the first place. This means that 16 of 24 senators must vote to convict her for the trial to succeed.
Should Sara Duterte either be removed upon the conclusion of a successful impeachment process, or simply resign over the session break to avoid the other penalties imposed to an impeached official, Article VII, Section 9 of the Constitution takes effect, where the sitting president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. nominates a new Vice President among the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, who is then to assume office upon confirmation by a majority vote from both houses of Congress.
Should Sara Duterte decide to resign, she can still be charged with crimes and convicted through other means, but she will not be disqualified from holding any future roles in public office, unlike those convicted or censured through the impeachment process.
Regardless of the trial’s outcome, one thing is for certain; the Marcos-Duterte alliance is no more. With the duo that campaigned on Unity now threatening to tear the country apart, lines are beginning to form and set the stage for the upcoming 2028 Presidential elections. Until then, we can only speculate as to what comes next.
And in the VP’s own words, God save the Philippines.