(Bloomberg) -- A second impeachment complaint was filed against Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte, the latest development in a brewing political crisis stemming from her public row with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
A group of former lawmakers and activists lodged the complaint at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. They are accusing Duterte of betraying public trust over her alleged misuse of over 600 million pesos ($10 million) in public funds allocated to her office, including during her stint as education secretary.
It’s a fresh political challenge for Duterte, who won the elections with Marcos on a unity platform in 2022 only to see the relationship completely unravel over differences in policies. While Marcos has warned that any impeachment effort would slow reforms, a successful complaint will eventually lead to the president nominating a new deputy.
Lawmakers France Castro, Arlene Brosas and Raoul Manuel from the progressive Makabayan bloc endorsed the petition, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco told reporters after receiving the complaint. Impeachment complaints can be filed by anyone in the Southeast Asian country.
“This sitting vice president, Sara Duterte, thought she can cheat her way out of misuse of public funds,” Manuel said in a briefing before the complaint was filed.
The first complaint was filed on Monday, citing the vice president’s alleged corruption, bribery and other crimes. It was sent in by civil society groups and former government officials, and was backed by a lawmaker representing another progressive party called Akbayan.
Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his political heir, has yet to comment on both complaints. She has previously denied any wrongdoing in the use of these public funds.
The relationship between the Duterte and the Marcos families took a turn for the worse last month when Sara Duterte said she had made arrangements for the assassination of the president, his wife and his cousin, the House speaker, in the event that she’s killed.
The nation’s investigation bureau is now probing the vice president over her threat, which she said was taken out of context. Marcos, on the other hand, has called his dispute with Duterte a “storm in a teacup.”
The House has roughly two weeks to act on each complaint filed and refer it to a committee where it could be dismissed or referred to the full House for a vote. At least a third of all members of the House of Representatives need to approve the petition for it to move to the Senate, which has the sole authority to try and decide impeachment cases.
The filing of the impeachment complaints “underscores the seriousness of the allegation,” Velasco said, adding he will send all the petitions to House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
(Updates with more details throughout.)
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