The House of Representatives of the Philippines has voted to impeach Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte for a second time, escalating a deepening political conflict that could threaten her chances of running for president in 2028.

Monday’s vote now sends the impeachment case to the Senate of the Philippines, where senators will decide whether Duterte should be convicted and removed from office.

If found guilty, the 47-year-old daughter of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte would also be barred from holding public office in the future.

Sara Duterte is currently considered one of the leading early contenders to succeed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in the next presidential election, despite an increasingly bitter fallout between the former allies.

The impeachment complaint centres on allegations that Duterte misused public funds and made public threats against Marcos, his wife and his cousin, a former House speaker.

The vice-president had previously been impeached in 2025 over the same accusations, but the Supreme Court of the Philippines halted the process on technical grounds before a Senate trial could begin.

The case resurfaced this year after a House committee reviewing the allegations concluded there were sufficient grounds to proceed with impeachment.

Duterte has strongly denied wrongdoing and dismissed the proceedings as politically motivated.

In a formal written response, she described the impeachment case as “nothing more than a scrap of paper” and declined to attend committee hearings examining the accusations.

Following Monday’s vote, Duterte’s legal team said the responsibility now lies with her accusers to prove their allegations in accordance with the law.

“The burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims,” her defence counsel said in a statement.

A total of 257 out of 290 lawmakers present voted in favour of impeachment, comfortably surpassing the one-third threshold required to send the case to the Senate.

Political analysts say the vote highlighted the strength of Marcos’ influence within the House of Representatives, where lawmakers are often aligned with the sitting president in the Philippines’ patronage-driven political system.

However, Duterte’s fate in the Senate remains uncertain.

Unlike House members, Philippine senators are elected nationwide and are generally viewed as more politically independent because many harbour presidential or vice-presidential ambitions of their own.

The Senate has historically served as a launching platform for future national candidates, making the outcome of any impeachment trial difficult to predict.

A passenger plane operated by Frontier Airlines struck and killed a person who had entered a runway at Denver International Airport late Friday night, forcing an emergency evacuation of more than 220 passengers after an engine fire broke out.

Air traffic control audio captured the dramatic moments after the collision as the pilot of Frontier Flight 4345 informed controllers: “We just hit somebody.”

“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot added before reporting an engine fire onboard the aircraft.

The flight, an Airbus A321 bound for Los Angeles International Airport, was preparing for departure at around 11:00pm local time when it struck the individual.

According to authorities, the person had jumped over an airport perimeter fence just two minutes before the collision and was seen walking across the runway moments before impact.

The aircraft was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members at the time. The pilot later informed the control tower there were “231 souls on board.”

Smoke was seen inside the cabin after the incident as flames erupted near the aircraft’s right wing. Emergency crews from the Denver Fire Department quickly extinguished the fire.

All passengers were evacuated using inflatable emergency slides as a precaution.

Airport authorities said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries during the evacuation, while five were transported to local hospitals. Their conditions have not been disclosed.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the aircraft was travelling at high speed during the incident.

“Late last night, a trespasser breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway,” Duffy said in a statement.

“No one should EVER trespass on an airport,” he added.

Commercial passenger aircraft typically reach speeds of between 150mph and 180mph during take-off.

Denver International Airport confirmed the individual who died was not believed to be an airport employee and said inspections found the airport perimeter fence remained intact.

After evacuating, passengers were transported back to the terminal by bus while emergency crews secured the scene. Airport officials later confirmed that most passengers were eventually placed on another Frontier flight.

The runway involved in the incident was temporarily closed as investigations were launched by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

A US judge has ordered the release of a handwritten document said to have been written by disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein shortly before his death in prison in 2019.

The note, which was unsealed on Wednesday, was reportedly discovered by Epstein’s former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, after Epstein allegedly attempted suicide in July 2019, about a month before he was later found dead in his jail cell.

Authorities ruled Epstein’s death a suicide at the time as he awaited trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, though the case has remained the subject of widespread public scrutiny and conspiracy theories.

According to the newly released court filing, the handwritten note contains several short statements, including: “They investigated me for month – FOUND NOTHING!!!” and “It is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye.”

The note also reportedly says: “Watcha want me to do – Bust out cryin!! NO FUN – NOT WORTH IT!”

The document, consisting of just seven handwritten lines, offers limited context and leaves uncertainty about its intended meaning.

The note had previously been sealed as part of criminal proceedings involving Tartaglione, who was being held in the same jail unit as Epstein while awaiting trial for four murders. Tartaglione, a former police officer, was later convicted in the killings.

Epstein had at one point accused Tartaglione of assaulting him in jail, allegations Tartaglione denied. The former inmate publicly discussed the existence of the note during a podcast appearance last year.

Court filings released alongside the note included a May 2021 letter from former Tartaglione attorney John A Wieder, who described the document as “the original” note that US District Judge Kenneth M Karas had ordered submitted to the court.

The United States Department of Justice did not immediately comment on the release of the document.

Epstein, who had longstanding connections to wealthy and influential figures, was arrested in 2019 on charges of sexually exploiting underage girls. His death inside a Manhattan federal jail before trial ended the criminal proceedings against him but intensified public interest in the broader investigation surrounding his associates and activities.