MANILA, Philippines — Filing a criminal case against Vice President Sara Duterte while she remains in office could “open the floodgates” to the prosecution of other impeachable officials, her lawyer warned Friday, as the defense team sought oral arguments on its client’s motion to quash the grave threats cases against her.
Counsel Paul Lawrence Lim said allowing the arrest and prosecution of a sitting vice president could likewise expose other impeachable officials to criminal cases.
“If it’s possible to charge and file a case and even arrest a vice president while she is sitting, even if she is an impeachable officer, then other impeachable officers could also be charged,” Lim said during an online press conference.
“Because the Vice President is not the only impeachable office. The others are the Ombudsman, members of the Constitutional Commissions. Of course, there are also the Supreme Court justices, and of course, the President of the Philippines,” Lim said.
Lim said the defense has asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to defer any arrest warrant while it resolved Duterte’s motion to quash the grave threats case.
He added that the defense was prepared to pursue other legal remedies if the court rejected the motion or issued a warrant, although no final decision has been made on which remedy to take.
Lim, who represents Duterte in the grave threats cases filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and is not part of her impeachment defense team, said the issue carried “very far-reaching and serious” consequences.
No arrest
NBI Director Melvin Matibag denied Duterte’s supposed arrest.and maintained that the vice president's camp has pending court motions which law enforcement operatives have to respect.
In an interview in Davao City, Matibag was asked whether he was aware of any warrant against Duterte, to which he said, "I don't think so."
Speaking in Filipino, Matibag said he heard that the vice president filed a motion to dismiss the grave threats cases that the NBI filed against her stemming from its investigation into a November 2024 online press conference where Duterte openly talked about contracting an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez should a supposed assassination plot against her succeed.
No one is above the law
Malacañang slammed Duterte’s defense team, with Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro asking whether the vice president’s camp was issuing "yet another threat," asserting that no high-ranking official is immune from legal accountability.
In a statement Friday, Castro asked:
"Are they issuing yet another threat? It appears to be the same narrative. However, we must remember that no one is above the law."
