Vice President Sara Duterte of the Philippines moved one step closer to defeating the impeachment case against her on Wednesday, after the Senate voted to put on hold a trial that could have led to her removal.
The Senate voted 19-4 to archive the impeachment complaint against Ms. Duterte, which had been approved by the lower house. Though the Senate can still hold a trial later, the possibility is diminishing. Last month the Supreme Court found the impeachment proceedings were unconstitutional, which influenced the Senate vote. In a statement last week, Ms. Duterte called the charges an abuse by the House.
It was the latest sign that Ms. Duterte, who was impeached in February, and her party, once led by her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is emerging from this political storm stronger than most experts expected. In May elections, candidates endorsed by the Dutertes won more seats in both chambers of Congress. That was a show of strength for Ms. Duterte, who has made no secret of her intention to succeed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., her former ally.
In the Philippines, as in the United States, the Senate tries and convicts an official impeached by the House of Representatives. The House voted in February to impeach Ms. Duterte and accused her of misusing public funds and making threats to assassinate Mr. Marcos, his wife, and Speaker Martin Romualdez of the House.
Ms. Duterte and Mr. Marcos, also the child of a former president, ran on the same ticket in 2022, winning in a landslide on the combined popularity of their two families. Their alliance quickly crumbled as the House, where allies of Mr. Marcos hold a slim majority, opened probes into the vice president’s budget.
The feud reached a peak in March, when the Marcos administration arrested Mr. Duterte and handed him over to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity for thousands of deaths during his war on drugs. Mr. Duterte is in prison awaiting trial at The Hague.
All but three of the 14 justices on the Supreme Court were appointed by Mr. Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Ms. Duterte’s favor on July 25, saying that the constitution bars the House from initiating impeachment proceedings against a government official more than once a year.
The House’s impeachment of Ms. Duterte was the fourth complaint that had been filed against her since December. The House did not act on the first three complaints, which were submitted by regular citizens.
The candidates backed by Mr. Marcos in the midterm elections in May won fewer seats than expected, narrowing their majority and giving Ms. Duterte and her party some momentum. Senator Rodante Marcoleta, an ally of the Dutertes who won his seat in May, made the motion to archive the articles of impeachment.
“This is once again the Dutertes flexing their muscles and showing they still have the people and the resources to win in 2028. They’re hoping that by winning the presidential election in 2028, they would be able to extract Rodrigo Duterte from The Hague,” said Carlos Conde, a human rights researcher and political analyst.
Mr. Marcos is limited to one term as president. A conviction by the Senate would disqualify Ms. Duterte from elected office and prevent her from running for president in the next elections in 2028.
“Archiving is just putting it on the shelf, where you can take it up at a later time. It’s not junked, technically, but in the eyes of the people, those nuances don’t matter. Archiving it is like killing it,” said Edre Olalia, secretary-general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
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