Duterte was accused in an impeachment complaint of misusing public funds, accumulating unexplained wealth and threatening the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and the former House speaker, which she denies.
The complaint by activists, religious groups and lawyers was backed on Monday by 257 lawmakers, easily passing the required threshold of one-third of house seats.
With her ally-turned-enemy Marcos limited by the constitution to a single term in office, Duterte, 47, has been the clear favourite to succeed him in 2028, but the impeachment could derail her bid.
The Senate must now convene a trial with its members as jurors and if convicted, she faces removal from office and a ban from politics.
"We are fully prepared to defend the vice-president before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, where it is incumbent upon the prosecution to discharge the burden of proof," Duterte's legal team said in a statement.
The impeachment setback for the influential Duterte family, with the vice-president feeling heat from her bitter feud with Marcos and her father, Rodrigo Duterte, awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court over a war on drugs that killed thousands of people during his 2016-22 presidency.
The House had also voted to impeach the vice-president in 2025, but that was later struck down by the Supreme Court over a procedural flaw.
But in what could be a major boost for Duterte, as the lower house prepared to vote on Monday, drama unfolded in the Senate, where a motion was passed to remove its president and replace him with Alan Peter Cayetano, a staunch loyalist of her family.
The change in Senate leadership means Cayetano, a former running mate of Duterte's father, would be the presiding judge in her impeachment trial.
Sara Duterte becomes the highest-ranking official to be impeached in the Philippines after former president Joseph Estrada in 2000, whose trial was aborted after prosecutors walked out.
Estrada, however, stepped down a few days after the trial ended in chaos.
Three other top officials have been impeached, including an ombudsman and an election commission head, who both resigned before their trials. Former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona is the only person so far to be convicted in an impeachment trial.
Marcos survived a separate impeachment bid in February after his allies in Congress voted to dismiss it.
He has distanced himself from proceedings against his estranged vice-president.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside Congress on Monday, chanting and holding banners saying "Impeach Sara Now".
