LAWMAKERS who will support the impeachment of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio will be barred from joining or running under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), it said on Sunday.
On a Facebook post, the group said lawmakers backing ouster complaints against Ms. Duterte will be blacklisted from running under the party’s banner and could face challengers backed by the Duterte-aligned group in their districts.
“Those who vote for the impeachment of Vice-President Sara Duterte cannot expect political refuge in PDP,” it said.
“Where necessary, PDP will field and support a competitive candidate in their district. This is not a threat. This is political accountability.”
The group described the impeachment push as a “politically driven” campaign designed to weaken Ms. Duterte ahead of the next national election cycle, rather than a legitimate effort to enforce accountability.
The party said officials backing the complaint should expect “political consequences,” arguing that voters and political organizations have the right to remember lawmakers’ positions on what it called an attempt to overturn the mandate of the more than 32 million Filipinos who elected Ms. Duterte in 2022.
Ms. Duterte is facing ouster raps following allegations of graft, betrayal of public trust and assassination threats to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., First Lady Marie Louise A. Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
The House of Representatives will vote on her impeachment on Monday following its Justice panel’s unanimous approval of a committee report, seeking her removal.
If it hurdles the chamber, the Senate will convene as an impeachment court, setting the stage for what could become one of the Philippines’ most consequential political trials in years and a defining test of alliances ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
Ms. Duterte last February announced her intent to run for the country’s top seat, but if she gets impeached by the legislative, she may be banned from running for public office. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
