Arrest warrant issued vs Sara Duterte over grave threats complaint
An arrest warrant has been issued against Vice President Sara Duterte in connection with a grave threats case.
On Sept. 4, Duterte's legal counsel Paul Lawrence Lim confirmed that a Quezon City court issued the warrant.
"Regardless of the question on jurisdiction, she has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies," Lim said in a statement.
In August, the Department of Justice filed three counts of grave threats before the QC Regional Trial Court against the VP in relation to her remark against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The agency said Duterte violated Art. 282 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Sec. 6 of Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
Prosecutors previously recommended setting bail at P120,000 per count.
Also in August, Duterte's camp asked the court to defer the issuance of an arrest warrant while it considered her motion to quash the grave threats complaints filed against her over jurisdiction.
Previously, Lim noted that Duterte may not be prosecuted for an offense that is also the subject of an impeachment case. The alleged threat, tackled in Article IV of the impeachment articles against Duterte, was the first to be taken up by the Senate impeachment court.
During a Zoom press conference in November 2024, Duterte said that she had contracted a hitman to assassinate Marcos, his wife, and cousin if she were killed.
The VP has since said that her remark was "maliciously taken out of logical context."
The Senate is well into impeachment proceedings and is hearing the first article of impeachment on the alleged misuse of confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President and formerly the Department of Education.