The National Bureau of Investigation has been tasked with carrying out the court order for the arrest of Vice President Sara Duterte, its director, Melvin Matibag, said after a Quezon City court issued the warrant in her grave threats case.
Matibag noted that Duterte could opt to surrender on her own and put up bail, given that the charges are bailable. He added that release on bond can be arranged even outside the regular workweek, telling One News program “Storycon” that courts entertain bail applications on Saturdays under an earlier Supreme Court directive. “The court can process bail applications during Saturdays,” he said.
The bureau shares authority with the Philippine National Police to serve the warrant, though Matibag said his office had yet to receive a copy of the document when he spoke. NBI personnel who went to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to request a copy were turned away because the office had already closed, ABS-CBN’s TNT Abante reported.
Asked whether the criminal matter could advance while the same accusations are being weighed in Duterte’s Senate impeachment trial, Matibag kept the two proceedings distinct. “The impeachment is legal and political in a sense. This is criminal in nature. The court cannot stop functioning if there is an impeachment proceeding,” he said. “The impeachment court will proceed with their hearing, and the case of grave threats will also proceed.”
Branch 98 of the Quezon City court issued the warrant on September 4, 2026, over three counts of grave threats, setting bail at P120,000 for each count, according to Philstar. In the same ruling, the court rejected the defense’s motion to defer or recall the warrant and to quash the charges, finding probable cause to try the Vice President, the Department of Justice said.
The counts, filed under Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act, stem from a November 2024 online briefing in which Duterte said she had arranged for someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez should she herself be killed.
Duterte confirmed receiving the warrant and named Judge Maria Angelica De Ramos of Branch 98 as the issuing magistrate. Her counsel, Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim, said the Vice President would press on with her legal options. “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.
