After deliberations, there were 257 votes cast in favor of impeaching Duterte, initially reported by the House as 255, more than the required third of House members. With the House vote on Monday, Duterte, who comes from one of the country’s most prominent political dynasties, became the first official in the Southeast Asian country’s history to be impeached twice.
Duterte will face trial before the Philippine Senate, which observers say is the real battleground: “The manner in which the impeachment trial will play out before the public will shape how voters will look at her candidacy,” Jean Encinas-Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines, tells TIME.
A strong pro-Duterte bloc sits in the Senate. After the House impeached the Vice President for the first time last year, the Senate effectively shelved the proceedings, referring to the Supreme Court ruling. This year, as the House deliberated on Duterte’s impeachment, a majority of Senators suddenly elected a known ally of the Duterte family as Senate President, who has denied that the impeachment influenced the shake-up.