Sara Duterte headed for trial after QC court arrest warrant – DOJ

MANILA, Philippines—The arrest warrant issued by a Quezon City court against Vice President Sara Duterte should pave the way for her grave threats case to proceed to trial soon, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official said on Friday.

DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez said the resolution issued by Branch 98 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) dismissed Duterte’s camp’s motion to defer or recall her arrest warrant.

Duterte is charged with three counts of grave threats over her outburst in an online press conference in November 2024 when she said that she allegedly arranged an assassination plot with a hitman to target President Marcos, the first lady, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

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The offense, however, is bailable, which is set at P120,000 per count, the DOJ earlier noted. 

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“The case shall now proceed to trial,” Martinez said in a message to reporters. “As a matter of procedure, warrants of arrest are transmitted directly by the court to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for implementation.”

Martinez was referring to earlier motions sought by Duterte’s lawyers, led by Paul Lim, to quash the complaint and to block the issuance of any arrest warrant in connection with the case.

READ: DOJ files raps vs VP Duterte over Marcos slay threat

The DOJ filed the grave threats complaint in August after state prosecutors found a high quantum of proof that the country’s second-highest official may be found guilty of such offense. 

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For his part, Lim said in a statement on Friday that the Vice President would not try to dodge the enforcement of the arrest warrant against her.

“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./coa