Vice President Sara Duterte turned an appearance outside a Quezon City courthouse into a platform for renewed attacks on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday, September 11, telling a gathering of loyalists that the chief executive had failed the very electorate that put him in power.
Addressing the crowd in Filipino, Duterte said the president carried no debt of gratitude toward ordinary Filipinos. “Wala siyang utang na loob sa taumbayan. Wala siyang utang na loob sa lahat ng nagpunta sa presinto para iluklok siya sa pwesto,” she said, framing Marcos as indifferent to the people who cast ballots for him.
She said her decision to speak out came from a sense of obligation to those struggling under the current government. “Kaya ako nandito kasi nahihiya ako sa inyo. ‘Di ko magawang tumahimik lamang dahil nakiktia ko kayong lumalangoy sa baha,” Duterte told supporters, tying her presence to scenes of flooding that have hit communities.
The vice president used the moment to press her call for Marcos to leave office, hurling personal insults at the president. According to Philstar.com, she shouted at him to step down and branded him a liar and an abuser, later repeating an “addict” accusation — the same charge her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, had leveled at Marcos in past disputes. She capped that line of attack with a warning that her movement would not let up: “Remember, we will keep calling for the departure of our country’s problem, whose name is Bongbong Marcos,” she said.
Duterte thanked the crowd for setting aside their work to appear, telling them their presence exposed what she described as the administration’s abusive character. She argued that the real confrontation with the government was playing out not online but within the halls of power, saying, as Philstar.com reported, that the enemy sits inside government buildings.
Her remarks came after the reason for her courthouse visit fell through. The Quezon City Regional Trial Court put off her arraignment on the grave threats charge, acting on a motion her defense lodged with Branch 98. Her counsel, Paul Lawrence Lim, told reporters the tribunal instructed the Department of Justice to weigh in on that motion before any ruling, and that until a decision comes down, the charges will not be formally read to her and no plea will be entered. Lim would not disclose what the motion contained.
The DOJ said it accepted the postponement and would hold off on further remarks until the court resolves the pending motion, declining to characterize the defense filing.
The criminal complaint traces back to a November 2024 online briefing in which Duterte declared that she had arranged for someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez should she herself be killed. Prosecutors filed three counts of grave threats on August 11 in connection with the Cybercrime Prevention Act, or Republic Act 10175.
Central to Duterte’s defense is the claim that the trial court lacks authority over her. Her lawyers contend that the 1987 Constitution shields impeachable officials with limited procedural immunity for the duration of their terms — an argument the Quezon City court already turned down when it declined to quash the charges before ordering her arrest. In a separate petition lodged with the Supreme Court, Duterte has asserted that trying her while she holds the vice presidency amounts to an unconstitutional attempt to unseat her without securing an impeachment conviction.
