Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte was riding high not so long ago, sailing to a landslide 2022 election victory with then-ally President Ferdinand Marcos, while also being seen as a near-lock to succeed him.
Four years later, the alliance between their powerful families lies in ruins and she is facing a battle for her political life in a Senate impeachment trial that could see her permanently barred from elected office.
AFP looks at how Duterte rose to prominence and what led to her precarious position.
The 48-year-old lawyer and mother of three, tattooed and fond of motorcycles, is former president Rodrigo Duterte’s eldest daughter.
She punched her way into the national consciousness in 2011 while mayor of the family’s southern stronghold of Davao, slugging a sheriff as television cameras rolled when he ignored her plea to delay the court-ordered demolition of a slum community.
It established the image of a pugnacious politician who would fight for the poor.
As her popular father’s presidency entered its final months, she surged in the polls to become the frontrunner in the May 2022 presidential election.
But in a shock last-minute deal, she agreed to step aside and run as vice president alongside Marcos, son of the man who ruled the Philippines for 20 years before his toppling in 1986.
– Why is she on trial? –
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impeach Duterte in May, accusing her of misusing government funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and making threats against President Marcos, his wife and a prominent Marcos relative .
While Marcos has previously disavowed the impeachment movement, the process has been managed by his allies in the House of Representatives.
They first impeached Duterte last year, but the Supreme Court blocked her Senate trial on a technicality. Her opponents later regrouped and launched a successful second attempt.
– What happened to the Marcos alliance? –
Cracks in the Marcos-Duterte “Unity” alliance were visible within days of their landslide 2022 victory, after Marcos denied her the defence portfolio she had publicly sought.
Later accused of mishandling her budget, Duterte resigned as education secretary in June 2024, at which point the long-simmering resentments exploded.
Former president Duterte stoked the flames by calling Marcos a “drug addict” and urging the military and police to take over the government.
Facing a probe into her spending, the vice president held an expletive-laden news conference claiming to be the victim of an assassination plot and saying she had ordered that Marcos be killed if she were taken out first.
Weeks after the House launched the first impeachment case against her, Duterte’s father was arrested and flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face charges tied to his deadly crackdown on drugs.
Duterte announced in February she would make a 2028 presidential run, seen by many as a means of dissuading House members from voting to impeach.
– What is next? –
Twenty-three senators took their oaths as trial judges in May, with only Duterte ally Ronald Dela Rosa absent after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest and he went into hiding.
Sixteen votes are needed to convict Duterte on the charges, any one of which could result in her removal from office and disqualification from future elected posts.
Only four Filipino officials have ever been impeached, with just one conviction — then Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona. His 2012 trial lasted five months.
– Does she have a political future? –
While Duterte previously had strong support in the Senate, the landscape shifted after her ally Alan Peter Cayetano was ousted from its presidency after a dramatic leadership shake-up in June.
Another Duterte ally, Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, was arrested the same month over accusations he had amassed over 573 million pesos ($9.2 million) in kickbacks tied to flood control projects.
On Friday, Senator Rodante Marcoleta, another supporter, was charged with graft over his alleged failure to declare $1.2 million in unused election campaign funds.
Despite this, Duterte retains a strong core of political support and has the backing of two influential Christian sects that have staged huge rallies supporting her.
The most recent survey by independent pollster Pulse Asia showed 51 percent would still vote for her as president.
By Agencies
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