Vice-President Sara Duterte is only the third Filipino official to face an impeachment trial since the restoration of democracy in 1986. She is also the first vice-president to face such proceedings.

The two previous impeachment trials saw months of political turmoil that tested the country's democratic institutions.

Most famously, President Joseph Estrada stood trial before an impeachment court in 2000, accused of pocketing millions of pesos in kickbacks from illegal gambling.

Allegations that his Senate allies tried to suppress key evidence led to a popular revolt that toppled his presidency and the trial was never concluded.

Image source, Getty Images

The last impeachment trial was that of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012. So far, it is the only one to run until a verdict.

Corona was accused of not declaring assets worth $2.4m (£1.8m) in foreign currency accounts. He was convicted and removed from office. He was seen as central to the anti-corruption campaign of then President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

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An uncertain pathway to Duterte's convictionpublished at 10:30 BST

10:30 BST

Joel Guinto
Senior Journalist

Image source, AFP

The pathway to convict Vice-President Sara Duterte is extremely tight, with votes from 16 of the 24 senator-judges needed for an impeachment.

The Senate is basically split between the Duterte and Marcos camps. This year alone, the Senate has had four presidents and each leadership change, called a "coup" by the local press, has been decided by the defection of just a few senators.

This underscores how evenly matched the camps are in the Senate, and how alliances in the chamber are constantly shifting.

This is typical of Philippine politics, which is dominated by dynasties, and where changing alliances often determine the power dynamics in government.

Complicating matters is the fact that two senators - both allies of the vice-president - have been arrested in recent weeks to face plunder charges.

Another senator who is a Duterte ally - who has gone into hiding from the International Criminal Court - faces charges in Rodrigo Duterte's crimes against humanity case.

It is unclear whether all three are able to vote in absentia.

Participants at a watch party in Quezon City appear to be having fun with an "impeachment Bingo" game.

In a picture tweeted by political analyst Cleve Arguelles, we can see the items on their Bingo cards include:

• Laughing in the session hall
• Sara Duterte's name gets mentioned
• A timeline gets shown
• Someone asks for a time extension
• Thick folders

Image source, Cleve V Arguelles/X

Image source, Philippine News Agency

University student Jethro Padernos is in the Senate today, watching from the sidelines as lawmakers speak in the impeachment trial.

The third-year political science student has snagged one of just 61 slots reserved for the public to observe the trial, according to state news outlet Philippine News Agency.

"Of course this is a historic occasion," he told reporters earlier.

"This is the first time that a vice-president will face a trial. It is important that we, the youth, should get involved."

He added that young people like him "believe in accountability [and] transparency".

Sara Duterte has just released a statement, her first since the trial began. The vice-president is not in court today.

In the statement, posted on her official Facebook page, she says "the burden remains on the prosecution" to prove their case in her impeachment trial.

She adds that President Marcos' opinion on her impeachment is of "no importance".

Marcos is currently on an official visit to Canada. In an interview with reporters in Vancouver, Marcos said earlier that if he were the one facing an impeachment trial, he would appear in person before the court.

Separately, the Philippine Palace has also said that Duterte "should practice what she preaches. She should simply present her side and offer her explanations before the impeachment court".

“Any statements she makes against the President—or in response to the President's remarks—outside of that venue will not help clear her name,” palace spokesman Claire Castro said.

In her statement Duterte said that "choosing to appear through counsel rather than testify personally does not diminish accountability or imply a lack of transparency".

Virma Simonette Rivera
Reporting from Manila

Image source, EPA

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has "far more important work to attend to" than to monitor the trial, the presidential office says.

"He will not simply sit around and watch the impeachment trial,” the president's press officer Claire Castro told reporters on Monday. She added that Marcos would be duly updated on developments in the trial.

Marcos had said over the weekend that if he were Duterte, he would attend the trial so that he can personally answer to the charges levelled against him.

Duterte is not expected in court today.

Marcos will not interfere on any proposals to amend the two-thirds majority rule currently required to convict the vice-president, Castro adds. Questions have emerged about whether this threshold should change as several senators are absent from today's proceedings.

"The executive branch will not interfere with whatever resolution is reached regarding that issue. It is up to the Senate to decide what to implement,” she said.

Vice-President Sara Duterte is the "people's choice" and attempts to remove her via impeachment are politically-motivated, her lawyer has told the Senate.

Duterte got 32 million votes in the 2022 election, more than President Bongbong Marcos or any of the senators and congressmen involved in the impeachment proceedings, says lawyer Sheila Sison.

"It is clear that the objective is to oust her," Sison says.

If found guilty of corruption or of threatening to have Marcos assassinated, the vice president will be removed from office and disqualified from running for president in 2028.

Congresswoman Gerville Luistro delivers the opening argument for the prosecution.

She says the heart of the matter is "does accountability still matter in our country?"

"If a small village treasurer can't explain missing funds, he is investigated. If a school principal squanders public funds, even just 5,000 pesos, she is punished. If ordinary people are held to account, why not the most powerful government official?"

One of the charges laid against Duterte is corruption, which stems from her alleged misuse of millions of pesos during her term as education minister.

The charges centre on expense claims Duterte made, which she has refused to explain, citing the need for confidentiality. Prosecutors have raised suspicions over the people who allegedly issued these receipts, as their names appear to be the same as a popular potato crisp brand and chain of cafes.

Image source, AFP

Senator Francis Escudero, who has just been elected as presiding officer of the trial, says 16 of 24 senators, or two-thirds of the Senate, is required to convict the vice-president.

Escudero adds that in weighing evidence, senators must bear in mind that the burden of proof rests on the prosecution.

It is unclear how the deeply divided Senate will vote by the end of the trial.

Two senators, both Duterte allies, were arrested recently for plunder. Another senator, also a Duterte ally, is in hiding and is wanted by the International Criminal Court over the war on drugs waged by Sara Duterte's father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

After spending nearly two hours debating over who should preside over the trial, the 21 senators present in the chamber have elected Senator Francis Escudero as the presiding officer.

The trial proceedings have started to pick up in pace, with prosecution and defence panel members now introducing themselves to the court.

As lawmakers debate in the Senate's main meeting hall for Sara Duterte's impeachment trial, demonstrators are marching outside. Here are some of the latest photos from the scene:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, Getty Images

The country's 24 senators, who are elected on the national level, are serving as the judges in the trial.

A two-thirds majority is required to convict the vice-president.

Members of the House of Representatives are serving as prosecutors.

The Senate has approved a maximum of 92 days for the trial's duration.

While the proceedings have technically kicked off, the opening arguments have yet to begin as senators are still debating a constitutional question - who should preside over the impeachment trial.

It's been almost an hour since Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian opened today's hearing.

Protesters have had a "minor altercation" with the police near the Manila Film Center, a short walk from the Senate building, according to a video posted on X by a reporter from broadcaster ABS-CBN.

According to the post, the demonstrators marched up to gate of the Senate building. But a district police chief said the brief clash was due to a "misunderstanding", ABS-CBN reported.

Virma Simonette Rivera
Reporting from Manila

As the trial unfolds inside the Senate building in the capital, Filipinos across the nation are also keeping a close eye on the proceedings.

Livestreams of the trial, hosted by major media networks and the Senate's official YouTube channel, have each attracted tens of thousands of viewers.

At least one organisation monitoring the impeachment trial, Bantay Senado, is holding a watch party in Manila. The House of Representatives' prosecution has also called on law schools, communities, and civil society groups to organise their own watch parties.

A ride-hailing driver told me earlier today that he would stop working to tune in to today's trial.

“I need to know what this is all about. Who is telling the truth?" he said.

Senators are now debating who should preside over the impeachment trial after a question raised by a Duterte ally, Alan Peter Cayetano, from the minority bloc.

Majority senators say the question should be settled by the Senate in a regular session and not while they are convened as an impeachment court.

As Duterte's impeachment trial takes place in the Senate's main meeting hall, reporters have crowded into a separate room to cover the case. Here's a look from our reporter on the ground Virma Simonette Rivera:

Image source, Virma Simonette Rivera/BBC

Image source, Virma Simonette Rivera/BBC

Image source, Virma Simonette Rivera/BBC

Duterte is not expected in court as she is not required to attend today's session.

Today is the first day of a trial that has been granted a maximum duration of 92 days, though it is unclear if it will last that long.

Twenty-one of 24 incumbent senators are present at today's opening session.

Senate leader Sherwin Gatchalian, who will preside over the trial, delivers an opening message calling on his colleagues to deliver "impartial justice" in the case.

Gatchalian said the trial will be conducted with "integrity, order and respect for due process".

He said he would make sure that ordinary Filipinos would understand the proceedings.

"The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte is hereby called to order," says Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, the presiding officer of the trial.

The proceedings begin with a prayer by Senator Bam Aquino.