The Quezon City Regional Trial Court has issued a warrant for Vice President Sara Duterte’s arrest over grave threats charges stemming from her statements against the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker.
Duterte’s lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim announced the issuance of the warrant, which came after her camp sought the dismissal of the case.
Lim said Duterte respects the law and would seek legal remedies.
“Regardless of the question on jurisdiction, she has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies,” he said in a statement.
Bail for Duterte is set at P120,000 each for three counts of grave threats in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Under the cybercrime law, committing an offense through information and communication technologies generally means the penalty is one degree higher than the traditional equivalent.
Duterte’s camp earlier contended that she cannot be prosecuted for an act that is also the subject of her ongoing impeachment trial.
Duterte was charged over her statements in an online press briefing in November 2024 that she had talked to somebody to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed.
She said it was not a joke.
She made the statements as she slammed and cursed at Marcos and his allies amid the ongoing House inquiry into her use of confidential funds.
During the online briefing, she was at the House of Representatives accompanying her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, who was detained after being cited for contempt during the hearing.
In the same briefing, Lopez protested an order to transfer her to the Correctional Institution for Women.
Duterte also affirmed her remarks about her kill order when asked about it in a press conference.
She asked if revenge from the grave is a crime.