Philippine presidential hopeful Sara Duterte impeached for second time

It is far from certain that Sara Duterte will be found guilty by the Senate. A conviction in an impeachment trial requires the backing of two-thirds of its 24 members, and analysts point out that Duterte has stronger support in the Senate compared with the lower house, after candidates aligned with her family performed better than expected in midterm elections last year.

Shortly before the impeachment vote, the Senate elected a long-time ally of the Duterte family, Alan Peter Cayetano, as its new president.

Cayetano was a running mate of Rodrigo Duterte and served as foreign secretary under his administration. He denied his appointment was related to the impeachment vote.

Members of the House of Representatives vote to impeach Sara Duterte on Monday. Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP

This is the second time Sara Duterte has been impeached by the lower house. She was also impeached on similar grounds last year but avoided a trial after she successfully petitioned the Philippine supreme court to declare the move unconstitutional on a technicality.

The allegations against Duterte focus on claims she misused public funds while vice-president and as education secretary, a post she previously held, and include bribery. She is also accused of threatening Marcos, his wife, Louise Araneta-Marcos, and his cousin Martin Romualdez, a former house speaker.

The threat was made during an online press conference during which Duterte said she would have Marcos, his wife and Romualdez killed by an assassin if she herself were killed.

She later said she was not threatening the president and that her comments had been misinterpreted.

Marcos, a son of the former president Ferdinand Marcos, has tried to distance himself from the case against his former ally. He also survived separate impeachment efforts in February, with his allies in the lower house voting to dismiss allegations against him, including claims of corruption. Marcos also denied wrongdoing.