Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, faces allegations including misuse of public funds, unexplained wealth accumulation and threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the first lady and a former House speaker. She has denied all wrongdoing.

The impeachment proceedings unfold amid intensifying political divisions between the Duterte and Marcos camps, whose alliance secured victory in the 2022 national election before deteriorating into a bitter power struggle.

The Senate trial could determine whether Duterte remains eligible for public office and preserves her status as a leading presidential contender. A conviction would require support from two-thirds of the 24-member Senate and would bar her from holding office.

The political climate surrounding the case has become increasingly volatile following the dramatic return of Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a close Duterte ally who had reportedly been in hiding for months while facing scrutiny linked to the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the former president’s anti-drug campaign.

Dela Rosa resurfaced ahead of a crucial Senate vote that installed Duterte ally Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president, positioning him to preside over the impeachment proceedings.

Analysts said the leadership shift may strengthen Duterte’s standing within the chamber, where several senators are viewed as aligned with the Duterte political bloc.

“Given that we now have a new majority, thanks to the efforts of Senator Bato, it would make prosecuting Vice President Sara in the impeachment court a little more difficult,” Ederson Tapia, a public administration professor at the University of Makati, said.

The impeachment process comes as Rodrigo Duterte awaits proceedings before the International Criminal Court over allegations tied to his deadly anti-narcotics campaign during his presidency.

The renewed focus on dela Rosa has added to tensions in Manila after reports of unrest and gunfire linked to attempts to arrest the senator. Philippine authorities confirmed on Friday they would pursue legal action to detain him, while dela Rosa has sought relief from the Supreme Court, arguing there is no legal basis for enforcing a warrant issued by an international tribunal.

President Marcos has publicly distanced himself from the impeachment effort, describing it as a matter for the legislature.

The Senate has not announced a formal start date for the trial proceedings.

The International Criminal Court last week unsealed an arrest warrant accusing Dela Rosa, Duterte and other alleged co-perpetrators of committing the “crime against humanity of murder” during the Philippines’ crackdown on illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa, who briefly remained inside the Philippine Senate last week while contesting the warrant, petitioned the Supreme Court to block government efforts to detain him.

In a filing dated May 16, Solicitor-General Darlene Berberabe argued that Dela Rosa had effectively placed himself “outside the protection of the law” and urged the court to dismiss his petition.

“Until he submits himself to lawful authorities, he must be deemed a fugitive from justice and should not be allowed to seek any relief from the courts,” the filing said.

Authorities said Dela Rosa quietly left the Senate building on Thursday, and his whereabouts were not immediately known.

The Philippine justice department said on Friday that authorities would defer serving the ICC warrant until the Supreme Court ruled on Dela Rosa’s petition, unless officials determined he was attempting to leave the country.

The Supreme Court did not immediately comment on the government filing.

Dela Rosa has argued the ICC warrant is invalid because the Philippines withdrew in 2019 from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court.
Berberabe said in the filing that withdrawal from the treaty “does not relieve a state party from cooperating in proceedings already initiated before the ICC.”

The ICC prosecutor opened a preliminary examination into the Philippines’ anti-drug campaign in 2018 after rights groups and activists alleged widespread extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s presidency.
Thousands of people, including suspected drug users and low-level dealers, were killed during the campaign launched after Duterte took office in 2016, according to human rights organizations.

Duterte was arrested in March last year and transferred to The Hague, where he remains in detention awaiting trial before the ICC.

Dela Rosa served as chief of the Philippine National Police from 2016 to 2018 before entering politics. He was elected to the Senate in 2019 and retained his seat in the 2025 midterm elections.

Dela Rosa, a former national police chief and one of the principal architects of Duterte’s war on drugs, has remained inside the Philippine Senate building for a third consecutive day after Senate leaders blocked attempts by authorities to serve an ICC arrest warrant.

The senator, widely known by his nickname “Bato,” faces accusations of crimes against humanity, specifically murder, alongside Duterte and other alleged co-perpetrators linked to the anti-narcotics crackdown that rights groups say left thousands dead.
“I am not appealing for violent support.

I am appealing for peaceful support,” Dela Rosa told reporters, urging military personnel and fellow graduates of the Philippine Military Academy to publicly oppose any move by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration to surrender him to international authorities.

Outside the Senate complex in Manila, approximately 500 riot police were deployed as several hundred demonstrators gathered to demand Dela Rosa’s arrest and extradition to the ICC. Protesters described him as a central figure in the deadly anti-drug campaign launched during Duterte’s presidency.

Dela Rosa served as Philippine police chief from 2016 to 2018, overseeing the early and most intense phase of Duterte’s crackdown on narcotics. Human rights organizations and international investigators have alleged that many of those killed were low-level drug suspects and users.

Duterte himself was arrested in March last year and transferred to The Hague on the same day, where he remains in detention awaiting trial before the ICC.

Dela Rosa had largely avoided public appearances since November before resurfacing this week during a Senate vote that enabled Duterte-aligned lawmakers to secure leadership control of the chamber.

The Senate’s new leadership has stated it would permit Dela Rosa’s arrest only if directed by a Philippine court rather than solely on the basis of the ICC warrant.

A spokesperson for Marcos said on Tuesday that the president would not interfere in Senate decisions regarding the matter.

The Philippine Supreme Court has yet to rule on Dela Rosa’s petition seeking to block the government from enforcing the ICC arrest order.

Voting results showed 255 of 317 lawmakers backed the impeachment complaint, comfortably surpassing the one-third threshold required under the Philippine constitution to elevate the case to the Senate.

Duterte faces allegations including misuse of public funds, accumulation of unexplained wealth and threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the first lady and a former House speaker. She has denied wrongdoing, while her legal team has described the complaint as defective and politically motivated.

If convicted in a Senate trial, Duterte would be removed from office and permanently barred from holding elected office, a penalty that could derail any attempt to seek the presidency in 2028.

The impeachment vote came minutes after the Senate elected longtime Duterte ally Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president, replacing Vicente Sotto III in a 13-9 vote with two abstentions.Cayetano, who served as foreign secretary under former president Rodrigo Duterte, denied the leadership change was linked to the impeachment proceedings.

“I do not blame you if you’re saying that the change in leadership was due to the impeachment, it was not,” Cayetano told senators after the vote.Under Philippine law, the Senate acts as an impeachment court once charges are transmitted from the House.

A guilty verdict requires support from two-thirds of senators.The latest impeachment effort follows a failed attempt in June 2025, when the Senate convened an impeachment court in televised proceedings before returning the case to the House, a move critics described as a de facto dismissal.Political dynamics in the upper chamber have shifted since then.

Candidates aligned with Duterte performed strongly in the May 2025 midterm elections, winning five of 12 contested Senate seats and improving her chances of surviving a trial.Among senators present during Monday’s proceedings was Ronald dela Rosa, the former national police chief who played a central role in Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.

Dela Rosa had largely stayed out of public view since November last year.Dela Rosa and Senator Christopher Go are among current and former officials named by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court as alleged co-perpetrators in the crimes against humanity case linked to Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown.

Dennis Coronacion, chair of the political science department at University of Santo Tomas, said before the vote that Duterte’s acquittal remained a realistic possibility because of support from newly elected senators.“There are new senators who have been very vocal that they are supporting the vice president,” he told AFP.

The contemporary art exhibition, one of the world’s most influential cultural events, has been overshadowed by geopolitical tensions linked to ongoing conflicts and international human rights disputes, triggering demonstrations outside national pavilions and deep divisions within the global art community.

Organizers said visitors attending the exhibition at Venice’s Giardini and Arsenale venues would instead vote for their preferred national pavilion and featured participant in the central exhibition, titled “In Minor Keys,” replacing the traditional jury-selected awards system.

The jury said its resignation was tied specifically to the participation of countries currently facing investigations by the International Criminal Court over alleged human rights abuses. Critics of the move argued that the decision was selective and politically inconsistent, with some artists and activists saying the United States should also have been scrutinized under similar standards.

British-Indian sculptor and artist Anish Kapoor criticized what he described as “the politics of hate and war,” reflecting broader tensions that have increasingly influenced major international cultural institutions.The Biennale’s main exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” had already been shaped by tragedy before its opening following the death in 2025 of curator Koyo Kouoh, whose vision for the event centered on themes of memory, identity and political fracture.

This year’s exhibition features participation from around 100 national pavilions, including several countries using the platform to address war, migration, colonialism and displacement through large-scale installations and multimedia works.

The controversy surrounding Israel’s and Russia’s inclusion reflects wider cultural disputes that have intensified across Europe and North America since the outbreak of wars in Ukraine and Gaza, where artists, museums and festivals have increasingly faced pressure over institutional partnerships, state representation and political neutrality.

Organizers said the audience-voted awards would be announced on the exhibition’s closing day on Nov. 22.

The clips, many circulated through social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Telegram, show soldiers inside damaged homes and villages handling personal belongings, damaging property and posing for videos during military operations in southern Lebanon.

One widely shared image showed an Israeli soldier placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in the Christian town of Debel. The Israeli military later confirmed the soldier had been identified and said disciplinary measures would be taken, describing the conduct as inconsistent with military values.

Another video from the same town appeared to show a soldier striking a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer, prompting criticism internationally and within Israel.Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “stunned and saddened” by the incident, while the Israeli military said it viewed the act with “great severity” and would pursue “appropriate measures.”

The controversy intensified after Israeli newspaper Haaretz⁠ published testimonies from soldiers and commanders alleging widespread looting by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

One soldier cited in the report said theft increased after military checkpoints were removed from certain areas.Another Israeli publication, Yedioth Ahronoth⁠, quoted a reservist alleging that troops took personal items including jewelry, blankets and photographs from homes near the Lebanese border.

The reports prompted a public warning from Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, who ordered commanders to investigate incidents involving looting and social media posts by soldiers. Zamir said such behavior damaged the reputation of the Israeli military and instructed that potential criminal violations be referred to military police.

Human rights organizations and legal analysts say the growing volume of online material shared by combatants is reshaping the documentation of alleged wartime abuses, with soldiers increasingly recording and distributing footage themselves rather than such evidence emerging solely through witness accounts or later investigations.

Under international humanitarian law, pillage and destruction of civilian property during armed conflict are prohibited. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention bans pillage, while the International Criminal Court classifies pillaging during armed conflict as a potential war crime under the Rome Statute.

The incidents come as Israeli strikes continue across parts of Lebanon despite a temporary ceasefire announced on April 17. Israel says its operations target Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure, while Lebanese officials and humanitarian groups report extensive civilian damage and displacement.

Ori Goldberg told Arab News that Israeli society was facing a broader moral and political crisis over the conduct of the war, though he predicted accountability would likely remain limited to lower-ranking personnel.Residents returning to damaged communities in southern Lebanon described feelings of humiliation and violation extending beyond physical destruction.

A Lebanese resident identified only as Ali told Arab News that the looting of personal belongings carried emotional consequences that could not easily be repaired.

conflict

Judges said the reparations would mainly take the form of collective rehabilitation measures, including educational programs, vocational training and psychological support, with particular focus on women and girls who suffered persecution under the religious police overseen by Al Hassan.

Al Hassan was convicted in June 2024 on eight counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for helping run the morality police established by the Ansar Dine Islamist group after militants seized Timbuktu, a historic desert city in northern Mali.

The court said women and girls were among the worst affected because their daily lives were tightly controlled under the group’s strict interpretation of sharia law. They were required to wear specific clothing and could leave their homes only under strict conditions, leading many to fear going outdoors.

Judges found that Al Hassan took part in or was present during public floggings and other punishments carried out by the religious police, which caused severe trauma to both victims and witnesses.Because Al Hassan is unable to personally pay the reparations, judges asked the ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims to help finance the compensation measures.

The fund has until January next year to submit an implementation plan for judicial approval.Reparations are a formal part of ICC proceedings following convictions, and the court currently has five other active reparation orders being administered through the Trust Fund for Victims.

Al Hassan was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Having already spent around six years in custody before his conviction, he is expected to be released soon.The ICC, the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal, has been investigating crimes committed in Mali since 2012, when Islamist armed groups linked to Ansar Dine took control of northern cities including Timbuktu.

French and Malian forces later recaptured the city in 2013.