The impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte has run for most of 2026, and the trial has now reached a turning point. On October 12, the House prosecution team told the Senate impeachment court it would wrap up its presentation of evidence, and it formally dropped the bribery article. The defense now gets its turn.
For readers trying to keep track, here is a dated timeline built from published reports by NewsWatch Plus, the Philippine Star and Inquirer.net. It sticks to what is on the record. Allegations are labeled as allegations, and the Vice President’s answers are included where she gave them. For the live vote-threshold dispute, see our earlier explainer on the 14-vote conviction rule.
When were the four impeachment complaints filed?
February 2. Two impeachment complaints were filed. One, from the Makabayan coalition, cited the alleged misuse of ₱612.5 million in confidential funds at the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education. The other came from civil society groups led by Tindig Pilipinas.
February 9 and 18. A third complaint, from religious and civil society groups, and a fourth, from private lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera, followed. On February 18, Duterte announced that she would run for president in 2028.
February 23. The House sent the complaints to its justice committee, which under the one-year bar rule shields her from any other impeachment bid for a year.
What happened in the House Justice Committee?
March 2 to 4. The committee began deliberating. Tindig Pilipinas withdrew its complaint, and the Makabayan complaint was set aside over the one-year bar rule. The third and fourth complaints were declared sufficient in form and substance.
March 16. Duterte filed her answer ad cautelam. She argued that a double standard was being applied to her compared with a junked impeachment bid against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., that she was denied due process, and that the complaints lacked ultimate facts.
March 25. Formal committee hearings began. Duterte did not attend and questioned the panel’s jurisdiction, objecting to the committee chair’s description of the hearings as a “mini-trial.”
April 1. Duterte asked the Supreme Court to stop the House proceedings, citing constitutional issues including the one-year bar rule.
April 22 and 23. The Anti-Money Laundering Council reported covered and suspicious transactions involving Duterte and her husband. Duterte said she had declared the correct information in her statement of assets, and her defense team called the claimed discrepancy “just a conclusion.” Our day-33 recap covers how that AMLC track later collided with the bribery charge being dropped.
April 29. The committee voted unanimously that there was probable cause.
How did the House impeach VP Sara Duterte?
May 11. The House impeached Duterte by a vote of 257 to 25, with nine abstentions. NewsWatch Plus noted that she became the first vice president in Philippine history to be impeached.
May 12 and 13. The House named 11 prosecutors, led by Rep. Gerville Luistro, and sent the four Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. The articles cover alleged misuse of confidential funds (Article I), alleged unexplained wealth (Article II), alleged bribery (Article III) and alleged threats against the President (Article IV).
May 18. The Senate convened as an impeachment court.
What happened at pre-trial and at trial?
June 1. The defense filed its answer and asked the court to dismiss the case for lack of evidence and failure to meet constitutional requirements.
June 18 to 29. The pre-trial conference ran for several sessions. The court’s pre-trial order recorded 57 prosecution witnesses and 96 defense witnesses, 17 of whom appear on both lists. It also kept the July 6 start date.
July 6. The formal trial began, sitting three afternoons a week.
Early October. On October 3, Duterte’s camp rejected former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s claims about Chinese-linked funds, which he raised at a press conference after he was dropped as a prosecution witness. Her spokesman, Paolo Panelo, called them “the same exhausted lies” and said the defense would let the evidence speak in court. The Philippine Star reported that the court had ordered banks, the AMLC, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and other bodies to produce financial records.
October 12. The Philippine Star reported that the prosecution would conclude its evidence, with expert witness Alexander Cabrera as its last witness. Luistro said the bribery article was withdrawn to speed up the proceedings and could instead be referred to the Ombudsman or the Department of Justice.
Where does the case stand now?
The case that reaches the defense phase is narrower than the one the House sent over. Of the four articles, Article III, the bribery charge, will no longer be argued in the impeachment court. The prosecution said it would ask the court about filing its formal offer of exhibits and about any more witnesses on Article I.
Duterte’s supporters say the shrinking case speaks for itself. Her defense has argued from the start that the complaints did not meet constitutional requirements, and her camp has repeatedly described the allegations as politically motivated. President Marcos has denied any involvement in the allegations against her. We laid out that argument in our opinion piece: a shrinking case is not a stronger case.
A separate dispute over the number of votes needed to convict, which the Supreme Court petitions also touched, will matter once the court reaches a verdict. See also: Supreme Court dismisses petitions on the vote threshold.
What should readers watch next?
- The prosecution’s formal offer of exhibits and the court’s rulings on it.
- The start of the defense presentation and its first witnesses.
- Whether the bribery allegations are actually filed with the Ombudsman or the DOJ.
- Any further Supreme Court action on the conviction threshold.
We will update this timeline as the trial moves into the defense phase.
Frequently asked questions
Did the House really impeach Vice President Sara Duterte?
Yes. On May 11, 2026, the House voted 257 to 25, with nine abstentions, to impeach her and send four articles to the Senate, according to NewsWatch Plus and contemporaneous reports.
Why was the bribery article dropped?
On October 12, 2026, lead prosecutor Rep. Gerville Luistro said the bribery article was withdrawn to speed up the trial and that those allegations could instead go to the Ombudsman or the Department of Justice, the Philippine Star reported.
How many Senate votes are needed to convict?
Under the Senate impeachment court’s September 23, 2026 ruling covered in our 14-vote explainer, 14 votes are needed to convict. Petitions challenging that threshold were later dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Is the defense phase starting?
Yes. After the prosecution signaled it would rest on October 12, the next stage is the defense presentation, once formal offers of exhibits and related court rulings are sorted out.
Sources
- NewsWatch Plus timeline of the 2026 impeachment case (checked Oct 12, 2026)
- Philippine Star: prosecutors rest case vs VP Sara (checked Oct 12, 2026)
- Philippine Star: VP camp on Trillanes claims (checked Oct 12, 2026)
- Inquirer.net on China-linked funds claims (checked Oct 12, 2026)
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