It is in connection with her controversial November 2024 press conference, which is also one of the grounds in her ongoing impeachment trial.
On Friday, September 4, news broke that the Branch 98 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) already issued an arrest warrant against Vice President Sara Duterte.
This is in line with the grave threats complaint filed against her over her November 23, 2024 press conference, where she uttered words allegedly threatening the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
During which, she allegedly contracted an unnamed individual to take down President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, if she herself got killed.
“May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kaniya na kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. Nagbilin na ako. Pag namatay ako, sabi ko, ‘wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapatay sila and then he said ‘yes’,” Duterte was quoted saying during the said briefing.
The said complaint was filed by the Department of Justice last August 11, with Duterte’s camp eventually filing their own Motion to Quash as they questioned the jurisdiction of the case.
In a statement, DOH Spokesperson Polo Martinez said that they note the resolution of the court that denied the Motion by the accused to defer or recall the warrant of arrest against her in the criminal case for grave threats.
“In the same Resolution, the Court found probable cause to hold the accused for trial on all three counts of grave threats and ordered the issuance of a warrant of arrest,” Martinez added.
In line with that, a bail of PHP120,000 for each count in the charge, which totals to three, has been set by Judge Maria Angelica De Ramos.
In response, VP Duterte said that she has been given notice of the said arrest warrant that was served before the Office of the Vice President. However, she deffered speaking on the matter and told that her legal team will attend to this matter.
Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim acknowledge the said warrant and added in his statement, “Regardless of the question on jurisdiction, she has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies.”
Aside from the judiciary, the same statement during the said briefing was also tackled as one of the grounds of the impeachment complaint against Duterte, which was tackled early on in the still-ongoing Impeachment Trial at the Senate.
