After being ordered arrested in her grave threats case, Vice President Sara Duterte did not pose for mugshots before the police when she posted bail and instead submitted her own photos, according to her legal counsel.
Lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim said Duterte took her own photos against a white background, which she submitted to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court when she posted P360,000 bail for three counts of grave threats stemming from her statement that she had told somebody to kill the President, the First Lady, and the former Speaker if she herself were killed.
“White background lang naman iyon kasi pwede naman siya mag-submit, actually, ng sarili niyang pictures,” Lim told reporters. “These are pictures na supplied na by the Vice President herself.”
Duterte’s release order stated that she submitted photographs of her left side, right side, and front.
Lim said mugshots are taken by the police when they arrest an individual, but there was no need to do this in Duterte’s case because she appeared before the court that issued the warrant, he said.
“So there was no need for her to be arrested,” he said.
He said Duterte, who posted bail on Saturday, was not given special treatment at the court and was fingerprinted.
Duterte supporter and lawyer Trixie Cruz Angeles said the photos Duterte submitted were for purposes of the bail bond.
Angeles said mugshots are taken when an individual is detained. But she said Duterte was not detained because she posted bail directly before the court and the court accepted it.
“So it was no longer necessary for the PNP to issue a certificate of detention or to actually detain her,” she said.