Sara Duterte camp cites 'limited procedural immunity' in arraignment postponement

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The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte is invoking her “limited procedural immunity” as her arraignment on grave threat charges has been postponed.

Duterte’s lawyer Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim on Friday said their camp is also questioning the jurisdiction of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) hearing the grave threat charges against the Vice President.

“Dalawang klaseng immunity po yan. Sa aming kaso dito sa RTC, hindi namin pinag-uusapan yung immunity ng Presidente. Bagamat yan ay pinag-uusapan na rin sa Korte Suprema sa ibang kaso,” Lim told reporters.

(There are two types of immunity. In our case here at the RTC, we are not talking about the immunity of the President. Although that is also being discussed in the Supreme Court in other cases.)

“Ang aming pinaguusapan dito sa RTC ay ang limited procedural immunity. Ibig sabihin, lahat ng mga impeachable officer, hindi lang naman ang bise presidente, ay hindi maaaring kasuhan habang sila ay nasa puwesto pa, hindi pa tapos ang kanilang panunungkulan, at hindi naman sila na-convict by impeachment,” he added.

(What we are talking about here at the RTC is limited procedural immunity. That means all impeachable officers, not just the vice president, cannot be charged while they are still in office, or their term has not ended, or they have not been convicted by impeachment.)

Lim said the Duterte camp has asked the court to defer her arraignment while it studies a motion filed by their camp. However, Lim declined to disclose the specific nature of the motion, citing the sensitivity of the matter and respect for the court.

He added that the defense already filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to stop the proceedings.

The defense filed a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition, along with a request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or Writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction, according to Lim.

This petition seeks to prevent the continuation of the proceedings, citing questions over the Quezon City RTC's jurisdiction. —VAL, GMA News