The Philippine Supreme Court has ruled that an impeachment case filed against Vice President Sara Duterte violated the country’s constitution due to a key technicality. The House of Representatives, which impeached Duterte in February and sent the case to the Senate for trial, violated a rule that only one impeachment case could be processed by the lower chamber against an impeachable official in a single year. Duterte, 47, became the first vice president of the Philippines to be impeached by the House in February over an array of alleged high crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The accusations were led by her threat during a November online news conference to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife and cousin, then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez, killed by an assassin if she were killed herself during her high-profile disputes with them. Duterte has been accused of large-scale corruption, sedition, terrorism, and failing to openly support Philippine government efforts to oppose and denounce China\u2019s aggressive actions against Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her impeachment trial was set to begin either next week or early next month by the 24-member Senate, which has convened to hear the case. If the Supreme Court ruling becomes final, the vice president\u2019s opponents could file another impeachment case after a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n