Activists file second impeachment complaint against embattled Philippine Vice President Duterte

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A group led by left-wing activists filed a second impeachment complaint against the Philippine vice president on Wednesday over her alleged misuse of government funds and demanded that she be permanently barred from holding public office.

The impeachment complaint filed by at least 74 activists, including human rights, labor and student leaders, before the House of Representatives reflects the extent of the political hostilities faced by Vice President Sara Duterte. She did not immediately comment on the new impeachment complaint or an earlier one filed Monday.

Duterte, a 46-year-old lawyer, is the daughter of also-controversial former President Rodrigo Duterte, who oversaw a bloody anti-drug crackdown while in office. The killing of thousands of suspects during the crackdown is being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.

Her No. 1 political adversary has been President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whom she publicly threatened with death in a Nov. 23 online news conference.

Government investigators have launched a criminal investigation into her threat against the president, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives, a cousin and ally of Marcos. Duterte has tried to walk back her comments by saying they were not a direct death threat but rather an expression of concern for her own safety.

The complaint filed Wednesday accused the vice president of “betrayal of public trust over the illegal use and mishandling of 612.5 million pesos ($10.3 million) in confidential funds,” according to a statement by the complainants.

The impeachment complaint said that in addition to the alleged misuse of the confidential and intelligence funds, the vice president and her staff allegedly tried to cover up the irregularities by submitting fabricated reports, receipts and documents to the Commission on Audit and deliberately obstructing a congressional investigation.

It said that in December 2022, the vice president’s office spent 125 million pesos ($2 million) in 11 days during the Christmas holidays for suspicious expenditures, including renting “safe houses,” paying for unspecified confidential information and financing rewards, which it said were not clearly explained by Duterte.

“Wasting the confidential funds is a big betrayal of the people,” said Liza Maza, a leading complainant from the Makabayan political coalition. “This is not just a simple technical violation but a systematic misuse and robbery of public funds.”

“The impeachment is the antidote to impunity,” said Renato Reyes of Bayan, another left-wing political coalition. “Citizens and taxpayers need to hold public officials accountable.”

On Monday, a group of civil society activists, including Roman Catholic priests and pro-democracy activists, filed an initial impeachment case that contained about 24 alleged crimes and irregularities, including her death threats against Marcos and her alleged role in the extra-judicial killings of drug suspects under her father's crackdown. She was also accused of failing to stand up to Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea.

The impeachment complaints will be examined by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by allies of Marcos and his cousin and key backer, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who also has been politically at odds with the vice president.

The process could take weeks or months. Congress is to start its Christmas recess on Dec. 20 and resume on Jan. 13. Many legislators will then start campaigning for reelection ahead of the May 12 midterm elections.

The House has been investigating the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds received by Duterte’s offices as vice president and education secretary. She has since left the education post.

She has refused to respond to questions in detail in tense televised hearings. Philippine police have filed criminal complaints against Duterte and her security staff for allegedly assaulting authorities and disobeying orders in an altercation in Congress over the brief detention of her chief of staff, who was accused of hampering the congressional inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds.

The National Bureau of Investigation subpoenaed Duterte to face investigators on Dec. 11 about her threats against the president.

Marcos and Duterte won landslide victories as running mates in the 2022 election but have since fallen out over key differences. The two offices are elected separately in the Philippines, which has resulted in rivals occupying the country’s top political posts.

Associated Press journalists Aaron Favila and Joeal Calupitan contributed to this report.

House Secretary General, Reginald Velasco, left, receives a second impeachment complaint filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte by a group led by left-wing activists on Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024 at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

House Secretary General, Reginald Velasco, left, signs a document as a second impeachment complaint is filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte by a group led by left-wing activists on Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024 at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Activists hold a copy of a second impeachment complaint filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024 at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

House Secretary General, Reginald Velasco, center, receives a second impeachment complaint filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte by a group led by left-wing activists on Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024 at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

House Secretary General, Reginald Velasco, left, receives a second impeachment complaint filed against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024 at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)