Duterte impeachment trial to resume after Asean Summit
By Saghir Hussain ·
The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte will resume on 19 November, delayed by the ASEAN Summit in Laos — a scheduling decision that underscores how domestic accountability is being calibrated against regional diplomacy.
Trial paused for regional diplomacy
The Senate sitting as an impeachment court adjourned on Thursday after just two days of hearings, clearing the decks for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering in Vientiane. Marcos, who also serves as his own foreign secretary, has prioritised ASEAN unity as Manila navigates escalating tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea. The pause gives both the prosecution and defence time to regroup, but it also signals that the trial’s timeline is hostage to the presidential calendar.
For the UK, the Philippines matters. It is a major recipient of British development aid, a growing market for UK services, and a strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific tilt. British firms operate in Manila’s business process outsourcing sector, which employs 1.7 million people. Instability at the top of the Philippine government affects supply chains, investment confidence, and the rules-based order London says it supports.
Defense seeks to explain controversial spending
The prosecution alleges Duterte misused confidential and intelligence funds totalling ₱612.5 million (£8.4 million) during her stint as education secretary and vice president. Her camp denies wrongdoing, arguing the funds were used for legitimate programmes.
On Thursday, the defence presented a witness who admitted close personal ties to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio. The witness produced a photograph of Carpio buying shoes in Malaysia for a youth basketball team in early 2025, attempting to contextualise credit card transactions flagged as suspicious. Another defence witness testified that 11 people shared a ₱200,000 (£2,750) meal in Tokyo, paid on the same card.
Prosecutors argue such explanations dodge the core issue: whether public funds were spent without proper documentation or oversight. The Commission on Audit has already flagged deficiencies in the liquidation of confidential funds under Duterte’s offices.
A test for Philippine institutions
The trial coincides with a separate crisis in the judiciary. On the same day the Senate adjourned, Regional Trial Court Judge Joseph Wee Sit was ambushed and killed in Zamboanga City. The Supreme Court has vowed to investigate, calling the killing “an attack on the judiciary itself.” Wee Sit was handling drug-related cases in Basilan, a province long plagued by violence.
Both events — the impeachment and the judge’s murder — test whether Philippine institutions can hold power to account. The Marcos-Duterte alliance, forged to win the 2022 election, has fractured publicly. The vice president’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, faces an International Criminal Court investigation into his drug war. His daughter’s trial may determine whether the family’s political machine survives.
The Senate needs a two-thirds vote to convict. With 24 senators, many allied to either camp, the numbers are uncertain. What is certain is that the outcome will reverberate beyond Manila — in Washington, Beijing, and London. A conviction would signal that no dynasty is untouchable. An acquittal would entrench impunity.
The world is watching. The question is whether the Philippines will show that its democracy can police itself.