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.

Health authorities in the United States and France have confirmed new hantavirus cases linked to the outbreak aboard the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, as more than 90 passengers continue to be repatriated from Spain’s Canary Islands.

US health officials said an American passenger who returned from the vessel tested positive for hantavirus, while another US national on the same repatriation flight showed mild symptoms.

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, both passengers travelled back to the United States in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution.”

All 17 American citizens aboard the repatriation flight are expected to undergo medical assessments at a healthcare facility in Nebraska. Authorities also said seven additional US passengers who had returned earlier are being monitored in their home states.

A British national living in the US was also evacuated alongside the American passengers.

Meanwhile, French Health Minister Stephane Rist confirmed that a French woman who tested positive is isolating in Paris, warning that her condition was worsening.

French authorities said 22 contact cases linked to the woman had already been identified and traced.

The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has already claimed the lives of three passengers — a Dutch couple and a German woman. Officials confirmed that at least two of the deaths were directly linked to the virus.

The World Health Organization believes some passengers may have contracted the Andes strain of hantavirus while travelling through remote areas of South America before infections spread among individuals onboard.

Hantaviruses are typically transmitted through contact with infected rodents, including exposure to rodent urine, droppings or saliva. However, the Andes strain is one of the few known forms capable of limited human-to-human transmission.

Symptoms can include fever, severe fatigue, muscle pain, stomach problems, vomiting, diarrhoea and breathing difficulties.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the US decision not to fully adopt the organisation’s recommendations for managing returning passengers “may have risks.”

The WHO has advised a 42-day isolation period for those leaving the ship.

However, acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jay Bhattacharya said authorities did not want to create unnecessary public alarm, stressing that person-to-person spread remains rare.

“It should not be treated like the Covid virus,” Bhattacharya said.

Images from the Canary Islands showed cruise passengers wearing protective blue gowns, face masks and medical caps while disembarking at the port of Granadilla de Abona on Sunday.

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.