SC petition stalls Sara Duterte’s grave threats arraignment anew

MANILA, Philippines — A pending petition before the Supreme Court prompted the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Friday to postpone anew the arraignment of Vice President Sara Duterte on three counts of grave threats.

Duterte’s lawyer, Paul Laurence Lim, said RTC Branch 98 took into consideration their petition for certiorari before the high court, along with the defense’s pending motions for partial reconsideration ad cautelam, before canceling the scheduled hearing.

“Today was supposed to be the arraignment but we have pending motions,” Lim said in an interview.

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READ: Sara Duterte’s arraignment postponed anew

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“Also because of the pending petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court, the presiding judge deemed it best to study all these things and reset and cancel the hearing today,” he added.

Lim did not disclose the new arraignment date.

READ: Sara Duterte posts P360,000 bail for three counts of grave threats

An arraignment is the stage of criminal proceedings when the accused is formally informed of the charges and asked to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.

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The grave threats case of Duterte stemmed from her alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife, Liza, and his cousin, former Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.

Duterte posted bail of P360,000 on Sept. 5, or P120,000 for each of the three counts./dp