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.