Vice President Sara Duterte will move quickly to secure her release after a Quezon City trial court cleared the way for her arrest Friday, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who said her legal team plans to post bail as soon as possible.
Bail was fixed at P120,000 for each of the three grave threats counts she faces, following a resolution by Regional Trial Court Branch 98 that rejected the Vice President’s bid to hold off or cancel any arrest order against her.
Her counsel, Paul Lawrence Lim, framed the development as one Duterte would meet head-on rather than avoid. “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, adding that his client would keep pressing every available option in court.
The charges trace back to comments Duterte made during an online briefing, in which she said arrangements had been put in place to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed if she herself were assassinated. She has maintained that the statements were stripped of their proper context.
In finding basis to proceed, the court determined there was probable cause to try the Vice President on all three counts and directed that the warrant be issued, the Department of Justice said. DOJ spokesperson Atty. Polo Martinez confirmed that Duterte’s motion had been turned down. “The motion was denied for lack of merit,” Martinez said.
The DOJ signaled it would not contest the outcome. “The Department respects the Court’s ruling and reaffirms its commitment to the rule of law,” Martinez said.
Malacañang struck a similar note of deference. “Ginagalang ng Palasyo ang anumang desisyon o kautusan ng korte,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said.
Before the ruling, Duterte’s lawyers had pushed to have the cases thrown out entirely, arguing that the courts had no authority over her. Their reasoning rested on her standing as an official the Constitution shields from ordinary prosecution.
“Ang sa ‘ming pananaw kasi ‘yung ating bise presidente ay isang impeachable officer. Sa Constitution kasi may tinatawag na opisyal na pwede lamang matanggal sa kanilang posisyon sa pamamagitan ng impeachment,” Lim had said. He continued: “At dahil sila ay impeachable officer, hindi dapat sila kinakakasuhan ng kasong kriminal katulad ng sinampa sa ating bise presidente.”
That same set of threatening remarks does double duty against Duterte, forming one of the counts laid out in the impeachment case now unfolding before the Senate.
