A QUEZON City court issued a warrant of arrest against Vice President Sara Duterte over three counts of alleged grave threats, her lawyer said on Friday.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98 set bail at P120,000 for each count, according to the warrant issued on Sept. 4.
Lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim said that while there is the question of jurisdiction, Duterte “has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies.”
Duterte was charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) last month with “grave threats” stemming from a late-night news briefing in which she claimed to have hired a hitman to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife and former speaker Martin Romualdez should she be cut down first.
The same alleged assassination threat forms a crucial element of her ongoing Senate impeachment trial, where a guilty verdict would see her removed from office and permanently banned from politics.
A criminal conviction on the charge would carry a jail term of up to six months.
DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez confirmed the warrant had been issued. But the warrant seemed unlikely to result in Duterte being taken into custody.
Paolo Tamase, associate dean at the University of the Philippines College of Law, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Duterte’s lawyers could now be expected to file for bail, perhaps before day’s end.
“The easiest thing for VP Sara to do is to file for bail with the regional trial court,” Tamase said in a phone interview, noting Duterte would likely not need to be present.
He added that the warrant could yet be challenged at a higher court.
“She can potentially question the issuance of the warrant of arrest, which means she would go up to the Court of Appeals or potentially the Supreme Court,” he said.
DOJ officials have rejected arguments by the vice president’s legal team that she cannot be prosecuted for offenses that are also tied to her impeachment.
Duterte was impeached in May by the House of Representatives on charges that also included graft and corruption.
A guilty verdict in the Senate — where her trial recently concluded its ninth week — would spell an end to a planned run for president in 2028.
Duterte first announced her candidacy in February.
Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Friday Duterte’s lawyers have confirmed receipt of the warrant and will post bail “as soon as possible.”
Rep. Terry Ridon, a member of the House prosecution in the impeachment trial of Duterte, said on Friday the warrant should not affect the proceedings.
Impeachment is “a separate constitutional accountability process,” Ridon said.
Senators who are serving as senator-judges in the trial remained tight-lipped on Friday following the issuance of the arrest warrant.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said senators were constrained from commenting on cases involving Duterte that overlap with issues being heard in the impeachment trial, citing the Senate’s sub judice rule.
“I don’t have P30,000 to pay a fine for a possible violation of the court’s sub judice rule,” Villanueva said.
