MANILA, Philippines — For the second time in the current Congress, the House of Representatives has moved to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, with an overwhelming majority approving the complaint during a plenary session held on Monday, May 11, 2026. While the final count showed broad support for impeachment, a bloc of 25 lawmakers stood firmly against it.
The official tally recorded 257 votes in favor of impeachment, 25 against, and nine abstentions, based on reports from ABS-CBN News. With the House vote concluded, the impeachment complaint is now transmitted to the Senate, which will formally convene as an impeachment court to conduct the trial.
Who Are the 25 Lawmakers Who Opposed Impeachment?
According to a vote record published by Politiko, the following district and party-list representatives cast dissenting votes during the May 11 plenary session:
- Rep. Maria Vanessa “Vanvan” Aumentado — Bohol
- Rep. Shirlyn Bañas-Nograles — General Santos City
- Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Barzaga — Cavite
- Rep. Dale Corvera — Agusan del Norte
- Rep. Nelson “JR” Dayanghirang — Davao Oriental
- Rep. Rachel Marguerite Del Mar — Cebu
- Rep. Harold Duterte — PPP Party-list
- Rep. Omar Duterte — Davao City
- Rep. Paolo Duterte — Davao City
- Rep. Karen Hope Garcia — Cebu
- Rep. Ramil Hernandez — Laguna
- Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste — Batangas
- Rep. Isidro Lumayag — South Cotabato
- Rep. Rolando Macasaet — SSS-GSIS Party-list
- Rep. Paolo Marcoleta — SAGIP Party-list
- Rep. Roger Mercado — Southern Leyte
- Rep. Robert Nazal — BH Party-list
- Rep. Laarni Roque — Bukidnon
- Rep. Sun Shimura — Cebu
- Rep. Richelle Singson — Ako Ilocano Ako Party-list
- Rep. Jesus “Bong” Suntay — Quezon City
- Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor — Bohol
- Rep. Isidro Ungab — Davao City
- Rep. Girlie Veloso — Malasakit at Bayanihan Foundation Party-list
- Rep. Julius Cesar Vergara — Nueva Ecija
Davao Bloc and Duterte Relatives Among the Dissenters
A notable pattern within the dissenting bloc is the presence of lawmakers with direct ties to the Duterte family or its political stronghold in the Davao region. Three representatives from Davao City — Omar Duterte, Paolo Duterte, and Isidro Ungab — were among those who voted against the complaint. Harold Duterte, representing the PPP Party-list, also cast a “No” vote. The Davao region has long been regarded as the political home base of the Duterte family.
Beyond the Davao contingent, the dissenting bloc drew from a geographically diverse set of provinces and cities. District representatives came from Bohol, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Cebu, Bukidnon, South Cotabato, Southern Leyte, Agusan del Norte, Davao Oriental, General Santos City, Quezon City, and Nueva Ecija.
Party-List Members Also Joined the No Bloc
Several party-list representatives also chose to vote against the impeachment complaint. These included lawmakers from PPP, SSS-GSIS, SAGIP, BH, Ako Ilocano Ako, and Malasakit at Bayanihan Foundation party-list groups, as documented in Politiko’s published vote breakdown.
Nine members of the House abstained from the vote. Their identities had not been specified in available reports as of the time this article was written.
Second Impeachment of the Vice President
The May 11 plenary vote marks the second occasion that the House of Representatives has approved an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte. Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the House holds the exclusive authority to initiate impeachment proceedings against constitutional officers, while the Senate functions as the impeachment court.
A guilty verdict in the Senate requires the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of all its members. Given that the Philippine Senate is composed of 24 members, a conviction would need a minimum of 16 senators voting in favor.
As of Tuesday, May 12, 2026, no formal schedule had been announced for the start of the Senate impeachment trial, according to reports from ABS-CBN News and Reuters.
Duterte Maintains Her Innocence
Vice President Sara Duterte has denied the charges contained in the impeachment complaint, according to Reuters. The specific articles of impeachment were not fully detailed in the source materials available at the time of this report.
Duterte is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte and served as Mayor of Davao City before winning the vice presidency in the 2022 national elections. She ran alongside President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in that election. However, the alliance between the Marcos and Duterte political camps reportedly deteriorated significantly in the period leading up to the current impeachment proceedings.
What a Senate Conviction Would Mean
Should the Senate find Vice President Duterte guilty following the trial, the consequences under Philippine law are severe. She would be immediately removed from the Office of the Vice President upon the Senate’s pronouncement of conviction.
In addition to removal, the Senate has the authority to impose perpetual disqualification from holding any public office in the Philippines, according to Reuters. Such a penalty would effectively bring Duterte’s political career to a permanent close, unless successfully challenged before the Supreme Court.
The Philippines has precedent for high-profile Senate impeachment convictions. In 2012, former Chief Justice Renato Corona was convicted and removed from office following a Senate trial, marking one of the most prominent impeachment cases in the country’s recent constitutional history.
The Case Now Moves to the Senate
With the House having fulfilled its constitutional role in the impeachment process, proceedings now shift to the upper chamber. The Senate will sit as an impeachment court, with the Senate President presiding over the trial, as outlined in the 1987 Constitution.
House members who voted in favor of impeachment are expected to form the prosecution panel, presenting their case against the Vice President before the Senate. Duterte’s legal team, in turn, will mount a defense on her behalf.
The length of an impeachment trial in the Senate is not predetermined and may run for several weeks or even months, depending on the complexity of the evidence and the number of witnesses that either side calls to testify.
No official date for the commencement of Senate trial proceedings had been publicly confirmed as of the latest available reports from ABS-CBN News and Reuters.
Photo credit: ABS-CBN News
