Sara Duterte camp seeks dismissal of grave threat raps filed in QC court

MANILA, Philippines—The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte is seeking the outright dismissal of the charges of grave threats filed against her in a Quezon City court in connection with the assassination plot she allegedly arranged targeting President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta – Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Lawyer Paul Lim, who represents the Vice President in the grave threats case, confirmed the filing of a motion to quash the complaint for three counts of grave threat “for lack of jurisdiction.”

“We confirm having filed a motion to quash the Grave Threats Informations filed against the Vice President, on the ground of lack of jurisdiction,” Lim said in a statement. 

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“As lawyers bound by our Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability, however, we cannot give any further discussion on this matter that is now sub judice,” he added.

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Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon, in a press briefing on Thursday, also confirmed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was notified on Wednesday of a court order requiring prosecution to reply to the motion filed by Duterte’s legal team.

The DOJ, however, has yet to receive a copy of the motion.

“We will be filing our comment as soon as we see what the basis is of the defense in asking for the quashing of the information,” Fadullon said.

Vice President Duterte on Tuesday was indicted for grave threats before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court 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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The filing of three counts of grave threats against Duterte was in connection to her outburst during an online press conference in November 2024 where she said that she hired a gunman to kill President Marcos, the first lady and Romualdez should an alleged plot to kill her succeed.

The alleged offense is under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Sec. 6 of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

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The offense is bailable and is set at P120,000 per count.

DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez earlier noted that the inciting to sedition charge did not reach court as it was dismissed by DOJ prosecutors for lack of evidence.

Martinez said that the alleged elements of crime of inciting to sedition against Duterte did not meet the high threshold required for prosecutors to indict her.

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The two charges came from the complaint referred by the National Bureau of Investigation to the DOJ in February last year after the former initiated a probe into the rant made by Duterte who, at the time, was riled up by the continued detention of her then chief of staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez in the House of Representatives. /gsg