MANILA — The justice committee of the Philippine House of Representatives unanimously found probable cause to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte. The decision advances two impeachment bids against Duterte to further deliberations and voting by the entire House.

The 53-member committee examined criminal allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds, and threats to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The impeachment complaints centered on alleged illegal use and mishandling of funds from the vice president's office and from her time as education secretary under Marcos. Duterte has refused to answer specific allegations in detail.

The National Bureau of Investigation said that comments by Duterte in a 2024 online news conference to have Marcos, his wife, and the House Speaker killed if she were assassinated constituted a threat to national security. Representative Gerville Luistro, who heads the committee, said Duterte failed to appear in six televised hearings in recent months and asked the Supreme Court to stop the impeachment inquiry on several allegations, including huge bank transactions that Duterte had not declared as required by law.

"If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason to hide, there is no reason to obstruct," Luistro said. "The only people who fear the disclosures of these transactions are those with dirty secrets."

On Monday, Manases Carpio, the husband of Duterte, filed criminal complaints against Luistro and other legislators and officials. The complaints allege that making government records of the couple's bank transactions public violated the country's bank secrecy law.

Independent surveys indicate she remains popular, and she has declared her intention to seek the presidency in 2028. Duterte and Marcos were running mates in the 2022 election but have since had a falling out.

Most of the allegations were included in an impeachment complaint she survived on a technicality last year. The House voted to impeach Duterte last year and sent the case to the Senate for trial, but the Supreme Court ruled that the House had violated a constitutional rule that only one impeachment case could be processed in a single year.

The House, which has more than 300 lawmakers, is dominated by allies of Marcos. If impeached by the House, Duterte will face trial before the Senate. She is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity stemming from the deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office.