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Both downgrades fall short of Manila's own growth target, with S&P delivering the steepest cut among 14 economies it tracked and both institutions flagging the drag from a corruption scandal and a 32% drop in state infrastructure spending.
Her spokesman says Vice President Sara Duterte is "ready to replace" the president, as Malacañang denies orchestrating the impeachment trial, the cases against her allies, and police operations — days before the Senate court rules on the vote threshold needed to convict her.
A risk assessment by GeoQuant, a unit of Fitch Solutions, says the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte have sharply raised social polarization and government risk in the Philippines — and that political violence is possible if she is barred from the 2028 presidential contest.
Twelve senators broke a two-day deadlock on June 3 by electing Sen. Win Gatchalian as acting Senate president after Cayetano's bloc lost its majority — but Cayetano refuses to cede the title, leaving the chamber with two rival leaders and the impeachment trial countdown ticking.
Senate Minority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto and Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on May 24 flatly denied Senator Imee Marcos' claim that the minority bloc was plotting a constituent assembly to extend President Marcos' term until 2031 and block VP Sara Duterte's presidential run — but the episode has laid bare the Senate's fractures as the impeachment trial countdown intensifies.
