MANILA: The Philippine House justice committee on Wednesday found probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, moving a step closer to a process that could derail her bid to become the next president.

The complaint will go to the plenary for a vote when Congress resumes session next month, with the backing of a third of its members needed to advance to an impeachment trial in the Senate, where if convicted she would be removed from office and banned from politics for life.

Duterte's impeachment was sought by civil society and leftist groups, who accuse her of misusing public funds, accumulating unexplained wealth and of threatening the lives of her rival, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and his cousin, the former house speaker.

In a vote of the committee, all 53 members agreed there was probable cause to impeach Duterte. She denies wrongdoing and says the complaint is politically motivated.

Duterte remains locked in an acrimonious public feud with former ally Marcos, with whom she ran on a joint ticket in 2022 elections that they both won in landslides.

With Marcos limited by the constitution to a single term in office, Duterte is the clear favourite to succeed him in 2028. Announcing her decision in February to run for the top job, Duterte apologised for helping Marcos to become president.

BATTLES INTENSIFY FOR DUTERTE FAMILY

The vice president's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the house committee's decision. Duterte has previously dismissed the complaint as "just a piece of paper".

The vice president has been subjected to intense scrutiny since the fallout with Marcos and her latest battle comes as her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, prepares to go on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over thousands of killings during his signature "war on drugs".

Sara Duterte could become the second most senior office holder to be impeached in the Philippines after former President Joseph Estrada, whose 2001 Senate trial was aborted when some prosecutors walked out.

Three other top officials have been impeached and include an ombudsman and an election commission head who both resigned before their trials, and former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona, who was the only one convicted so far.

A previous attempt to impeach Duterte on similar allegations was backed overwhelmingly by a Congress stacked with allies of Marcos but it was thrown out in July last year by the Supreme Court, which ruled it was unconstitutional due to a procedural flaw.

Marcos survived a separate impeachment bid in February after his allies in Congress voted to dismiss it. He has distanced himself from the proceedings against Duterte