House impeaches Duterte

Metro Manila, Philippines - The House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, Feb. 5, the last session day before Congress goes on a four-month break for the elections.

During the plenary session, House Secretary-General Reginald Velasco announced that 215 lawmakers signed a fourth impeachment complaint, exceeding the required one-third signatures of representatives for the case to be automatically transmitted to the Senate for trial.

In December, three impeachment complaints endorsed by six lawmakers were filed against Duterte for a number of grounds, including plunder, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust.

The complainants cited Duterte's supposed mismanagement of the P612.5-million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Education Department, of which she was secretary until last year.

This story will be updated.