Manila [Philippines], February 5 : The House of Representatives impeached Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday after at least one-third of its members supported the move, Philstar reported.
As many as 215 lawmakers endorsed the fourth impeachment complaint, which was registered the same day, exceeding more than two-thirds of the lower chamber's 306 members.
She is the first sitting Vice President of Philippines to face impeachment. The complaint and list of supporters was sent to the Senate after the House held its last plenary session on Wednesday before adjourning again on February 7.
Duterte has been accused of violating the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and other crimes like bribery and conspiracy to commit murder, Philstar reported. She will be tried before the Senate, with 11 members of the House acting as prosecutors in the case for her removal from the office.
A two-thirds vote in the Senate or backing of 16 of the 24 senators is required to convict Duterte. If acquitted, another impeachment proceeding cannot be initiated against Sara Duterte for one year, according to Philstar report.
The House of Representatives had halted the transmission of three impeachment complaints to the Speaker's office for two months, as per the report. However, lawmakers later registered fourth complaint, which consolidated the cited grounds of the earlier three. Philippines President's son and senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos was the lead complainant.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor