Thousands call for impeachment of Philippines VP Duterte 

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Manila to demand the impeachment of Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte.

Protesters in the capital held placards calling for Duterte’s removal and chanted “Impeach! Impeach Sara now!” as they gathered on Friday morning. About 4,000 people took part in the rally, police said, with authorities deploying 7,400 riot police.

A bigger rally was held earlier this month by a conservative sect that opposes the impeachment calls that were made in December.

Duterte faces three impeachment complaints over alleged misconduct and misuse of millions of dollars in government funds when she served as education secretary under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Legislators have yet to tackle them just days before Congress adjourns next week before the May midterm elections.

House of Representatives member Percival Cendana, who backs one of the impeachment complaints, pressed his colleagues to move fast. Every day of inaction “condones the impunity, the abuse of power and the harassment that Duterte is doing to our country’s leaders”, he told reporters.

An impeachment will only proceed if it is backed by a third of House of Representatives members, and an impeached official can be removed from office by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.

“The Filipino people are here, ready to stand for truth and justice. Let’s not fail them,” Cendana said.

But since the pro-Duterte rally, which attracted an estimated 1.5 million people, questions have been raised about the appetite of Congress to act on the complaints before the midterm elections.

The House Secretary General had said the legislative body is waiting for a potential fourth complaint before referring them to the speaker.

The 46-year-old vice president, who is estranged from Marcos but remains his constitutional successor in case he is unable to perform his duties, has denied the allegations against her, calling them politically motivated.

Since her public split with Marcos Jr last year, she had threatened the president, the first lady and the speaker with assassination.

In October, she had told reporters that her relationship with Marcos had become so “toxic” that she sometimes imagines beheading him.

Duterte and Marcos campaigned on a platform of unity when they ran in tandem in the 2022 national elections.

Duterte is the daughter of Marcos’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who is notorious for his crude language and a controversial war on drugs that is under investigation by the International Criminal Court.

Marcos himself has urged Congress not to pursue Duterte’s impeachment, calling it a “storm in a teacup” that would distract the legislature from its primary responsibilities.