On February 5, at least 215 members of the House of Representatives signed an impeachment complaint seeking vice president Sara Duterte’s ouster from office. The filing of the impeachment against Duterte came after being delayed for almost two months by the Marcos regime. President Ferdinand Marcos’ son Sandro Marcos himself led the endorsement of the fourth complaint.

The impeachment was filed on the last day of Congress’ regular session. Earlier, three impeachment complaints were filed in Congress. The second of these was filed by progressive organizations and individuals and endorsed by the Makabayan Coalition.

The fourth impeachment complaint contains seven articles. Foremost among these is “the conspiracy to kill Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.” Duterte made the threat on November 23, 2024 amid hearings surrounding anomalies in her office’s spending of confidential funds.

Other grounds include: corruption in ₱615.5 million in confidential funds; bribery and corruption in the Department of Education; unexplained wealth and failure to disclose her assets in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth; involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City, destabilization maneuvers, including her boycott of the State of the Nation Address and obstruction of Congress hearings; and “totality of conduct” as vice president and country’s second highest official.

The endorsed resolution was forwarded to the Senate which is tasked to convene as a court to hear the complaints. If convicted, Duterte will not only be unseated, but will also bar her from holding any public position.

The latest chapter in the Marcos and Duterte rivalry demonstrates the heightening tension between them. This shows a further deepening of the division within the ruling reactionary classes, where rival factions and cliques compete for bureaucrat-capitalist privileges and powers.

The impeachment is a major component in the consolidation of the Marcos faction’s political power, especially within the military, police and defense. At the same time, Marcos has also affirmed his loyalty to the US imperialist by further strengthening cooperation with the US in anti-China propaganda and naval operations that the US is orchestrating in the West Philippine Sea, under the guise of “promoting Philippine sovereignty.”

The Filipino people welcomed Sara Duterte’s impeachment as the first step to hold the vice president accountable and remove her from her post, as a measure to punish her for crimes of corruption. The people must strengthen and broaden their actions to push the Senate to immediately convene as a court and begin the trial as soon as possible.

The impeachment is a victory for the mass movement that continuously pushed for it through protest actions. This will embolden and strengthen the determination of the people to charge Marcos himself with bigger crimes of corruption in the form of his own confidential funds, pork barrel in the form of subsidies, control of billions in the Maharlika Fund and taking control of the “unspent” PhilHealth funds. Marcos should also be held accountable for dismissing the charges filed against his family’s stolen wealth worth at least ₱202 billion.

Progressive groups see impeachment as victory of the people struggling to hold accountable the Dutertes and their coterie of human rights violators. By putting pressure and through collective action, assertion and vigilance, the people won the initial victory in holding the corrupt accountable. Along with calling to convict Duterte, they condemn the Marcos regime for failing to stem corruption.

On voting day, protesters gathered in front of Congress to call for Duterte to be sentenced immediately. A similar protest was held in Cabuyao, Laguna.