NCRPO assures security for Duterte on Sept. 11 arraignment

MANILA, Philippines — The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) assured the public that it will provide security for Vice President Sara Duterte during her arraignment on Friday, Sept. 11. Duterte is set to be arraigned before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife, and his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. “We will provide all the security that the vice president would need,” NCRPO officer in charge Brig. Gen. Christopher Abrahano said in an interview at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Thursday. On Tuesday, Duterte’s lawyer for her impeachment trial, Michael Poa, did not directly say whether she would personally appear before the court. He only said accused individuals have to be present for their arraignment. The Quezon City Regional Trial Court ordered Duterte arrested last Sept. 4. She posted P360,000 bail a day later. In a conversation with her lawyers before posting bail, Duterte said she felt unsafe, expressed doubt in the police force, and claimed law enforcers had harassed her family in attempting to serve her warrant. The Philippine National Police has since denied this. The charges against the vice president stemmed from her November 2024 virtual press conference, in which she said she had supposedly contracted an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife, and Romualdez if she was killed. One of the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte also pertains to the purported threat she made against Marcos and his family.