Duterte ally removed as Philippine Senate begins impeachment
A leadership standoff in the Philippine Senate ended Wednesday with the removal of an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte as leader of the chamber, which will soon start the impeachment trial of his daughter, incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte.
With 13 of 24 senators backing him, Sherwin Gatchalian, an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was elected Senate president. His rival, Alan Peter Cayetano, a key supporter of Duterte, conceded defeat. Both had claimed leadership of the Senate in the last two weeks based on contrasting legal interpretations of the quorum that led to their elections.
An allied senator of Cayetano, however, defected on Wednesday and gave his rivals’ bloc a clear majority. “It’s a relief,” Jean Franco, a political professor at the state-run University of the Philippines, said, but added that the country’s democracy, “with its weak and fragile institutions,” faces more headwinds.
The Senate infighting has been perceived as being swayed by the long-running political disputes between Marcos and Vice President Duterte. The country’s top two leaders were once allies but had a bitter falling out in a high-profile dispute that reflects the divisions and turbulent politics long plaguing the Asian democracy.
