PHILIPPINES vice-president Sara Duterte said today that her lawyers were preparing for a legal battle in her forthcoming impeachment trial.

Ms Duterte was speaking for the first time since the House of Representatives impeached her on Wednesday on a raft of criminal charges, including plotting to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr assassinated, which she again denied. 

Mr Marcos was her running mate in the 2022 elections, but they have had a bitter falling-out.

At the news conference, she underscored economic hardships and said the lives of Filipinos had become “much worse” due to the skyrocketing cost of living.

Ms Duterte asked her supporters to turn to social media to express their sentiments instead of holding street protests to avoid disrupting the lives of the country’s people.

A potential conviction and ban on holding office would be a major setback to one of the Philippines’ most prominent political families.

The impeachment complaint focused on the alleged threats to President Marcos and irregularities in the use of office funds.

Ms Duterte has also been accused of failing to stand up to China in an ongoing dispute over the South China Sea, according to proponents of the petition. 

The Senate is to take up the case when it reconvenes in June.