Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has survived major legal and political peril as the Supreme Court struck down an impeachment complaint against her, ruling it was unconstitutional.
The court on Friday said it was not absolving Duterte of the charges, but the outcome could nevertheless be a huge boost for her political ambitions.
Duterte faced 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.
The Philippines’ lower house of Congress impeached Duterte in February, also accusing her of threatening to kill Marcos, the First Lady, and the House Speaker.
Duterte is widely seen as a strong contender for the 2028 presidency, which Marcos cannot contest due to a single-term limit for Philippine presidents.
A conviction in an impeachment trial would have seen Duterte banned from office for life. She has said the move to impeach her, which came amid a bitter feud with Marcos, was politically motivated.
Duterte is the daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands
Rodrigo Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022, was flown to the ICC just hours after his arrest at Manila airport over alleged “crimes against humanity” stemming from a crackdown on drugs that killed thousands of people during his presidency. He has denied wrongdoing.
