Philippine civil society and religious leaders asked Congress on Monday to impeach Vice-President Sara Duterte over a list of complaints that include graft, incompetence and amassing ill-gotten wealth while in office.The daughter of firebrand former president Rodrigo Duterte has been embroiled in a row with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and is the subject of an enquiry into her spending by the House of Representatives. She denies wrongdoing.Monday’s complainants included civil society and religious leaders, as well as former government officials critical of her father.They include priest Flaviano Villanueva, who runs a support group for families of victims of the drug war, former congressman Gary Alejano who represents military veterans and their families, and singer-activist Leah Navarro.The complaint includes 24 violation based on major grounds composed of culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.“The vice president has reduced public office to a platform for violent rhetoric, personal enrichment, elitist entitlement and a shield for impunity,” Teresita Quintos Deles, one of the complainants, said in a statement.A representative of the Akbayan opposition party endorsed the complaint in the Philippine House of Representatives.Duterte’s office said requests for comment had been relayed to the vice-president.The impeachment bid is the latest twist in a high-profile row among three of the Philippines’ highest office-holders, after the collapse of a powerful alliance between their families led to Marcos’ landslide win in the 2022 election.“This impeachment is not just a legal battle but a moral fight to restore dignity and decency to public service,” said Leila de Lima, a spokesperson for the complainants and a staunch critic of an anti-narcotics campaign run by Duterte’s father.
