Metro Manila, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial is set to begin on Monday, July 6. She is the fifth public official to be impeached by the House of Representatives, and the first in Philippine history to be impeached twice.
Here is a brief, chronological history of the country’s officials who have undergone impeachment proceedings.
President Joseph Estrada
The House of Representatives impeached former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada on November 13, 2000, making him the first Philippine president to be impeached and tried. The short-lived trial commenced on December 7, 2000.
Estrada was accused of:
Receiving millions of pesos in monthly kickbacks from jueteng lords, funneled through then-Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson;
Diverting tobacco excise taxes;
Amassing undisclosed assets, including luxury mansions and dozens of business stakes;
Betraying public trust by interfering in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation; and
Violating the Constitution by transferring smuggled luxury vehicles to Palace officials.
On January 16, 2001, senator-judges voted on whether to open a controversial envelope that supposedly contained damning bank evidence against Estrada, though it was not part of the original impeachment complaint. Eleven senator-judges voted against examining the evidence, while 10 voted in favor.
Incumbent senators Loren Legarda and Tito Sotto served as senator-judges in Estrada’s impeachment court. Legarda voted in favor of opening the envelope, while Sotto voted to keep it closed. Both will return to act as senator-judges in the upcoming Duterte trial.
The vote to keep the envelope sealed prompted opposition senators and the prosecution panel to walk out, abruptly stalling the trial just 23 days after it commenced. This catalyst triggered the EDSA II revolution.
On January 20, 2001, Estrada vacated the presidency. In 2007, the Sandiganbayan convicted him of plunder, but he was subsequently pardoned by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez
Former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was the second government official to face an impeachment trial. Macapagal-Arroyo appointed her to the post in 2005.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who served as the Akbayan party-list representative at the time, and two other groups filed an impeachment complaint against Gutierrez for the alleged mishandling and neglect of high-profile government scandals. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan filed a similar complaint.
The scandals tied to the complaint included:
The fertilizer fund scam;
The National Broadband Network–ZTE deal; and
The Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) botched Mega Pacific election automation contract.
The House of Representatives impeached Gutierrez in a landslide vote of 212–46.
However, on April 29, 2011, she resigned from her post just two weeks before her Senate trial was scheduled to begin.
In October 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed the former ombudsman as the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the National Commission of Senior Citizens.
Chief Justice Renato Corona
The third official to undergo impeachment proceedings was the late Chief Justice Renato Corona.
On December 12, 2011, the House of Representatives impeached Corona on charges of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and graft and corruption.
On May 29, 2012, the Senate Impeachment Court—presided over by the late Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile—found Corona guilty of failing to disclose his true Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). Twenty senator-judges voted to convict, while three voted to acquit.
Incumbent Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, Ping Lacson, Lito Lapid, Loren Legarda, Kiko Pangilinan, and Tito Sotto were among those who voted to convict Corona.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was a senator at the time, cast a “not guilty” vote.
Comelec Chairperson Andres Bautista
Former Comelec Chairperson Andres Bautista was the fourth public official to be impeached. On October 11, 2017, the House voted 137–75 to impeach him on the grounds of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust.
Bautista allegedly failed to safeguard the poll body’s systems against the massive 2016 data breach known as “Comeleak,” which compromised the private information of 55 million registered voters. He was also accused by his estranged wife of amassing roughly ₱1 billion in ill-gotten wealth.
Like Gutierrez, Bautista resigned from his post on October 23, 2017, before the Senate Impeachment Court could officially convene. He subsequently left the Philippines for the United States.
Vice President Sara Duterte
Vice President Sara Duterte is the latest—and second-highest ranking—official to be impeached, earning the unique distinction of being impeached twice.
With 215 affirmative votes, the House first impeached Duterte on February 5, 2025. While the lower house transmitted the complaint to the Senate on the same day, it did not reach the plenary before the congressional recess.
The initial articles centered on alleged assassination threats against President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, alongside the alleged misuse of ₱612.5 million in confidential funds across the OVP and DepEd, extrajudicial killings, and destabilization.
Following legal gridlock and a remand of the articles back to the House, the Supreme Court ruled on July 25, 2025, that the specific complaint used was unconstitutional. The High Court cited violations of the constitutional “one-year bar rule” due to earlier complaints filed in late 2024, effectively enforcing a temporary ban on new impeachment proceedings against her until February 6, 2026.
The 2026 Resubmission
Following the expiration of the Supreme Court’s ban, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte for a second time on May 11, 2026.
This current trial has been streamlined down to four articles of impeachment:
Article I: The alleged systemic misuse of OVP and DepEd confidential funds.
Article II: Accusations of amassing wealth disproportionate to her lawful income, a failure to truthfully disclose her and her husband Mans Carpio’s assets in her SALN, and an illegal failure to divest from her business interests.
Article III: Alleged bribery of DepEd procurement officials via cash-filled envelopes.
Article IV: Direct public threats made against the lives of President Marcos Jr., the First Lady, and Rep. Romualdez.
The Senate Impeachment Court will formally begin Duterte’s trial on Monday, July 6. Read more about the upcoming impeachment trial below:
–Breaking down the proposed Articles of Impeachment vs. Duterte
–How Duterte’s impeachment trial will unfold under Senate rules
–LIST: Prosecutors, defense lawyers facing off in Duterte impeachment trial
