Sara Duterte posts bail for grave threats case, cites safety concerns

Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday posted bail at a Quezon City court, a day after an arrest warrant was issued against her for her grave threats case. The QC Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 98 set the bail at P120,000 per count. It found that there is probable cause to hold Duterte for trial, prompting it to issue an arrest warrant against her. Shortly before she posted bail, Duterte's counsel told reporters that the vice president did not have her mugshot taken inside the courtroom. Instead, her own photo holding a piece of paper indicating her name and the charges against her was submitted. Court staff took her fingerprints as part of the bail process. The vice president later showed journalists a copy of the court order indicating that the arrest warrant has been lifted. She took the stairs to and from the QC RTC-Branch 98 inside the Hall of Justice, saying she wanted to be seen by the media amid her security concerns. In a statement, Duterte said she does not feel safe. "I have documented threats and harassment since 2023. I fear for my children. I do not feel they are safe if I am with them," she said. "I have already left where my children are to go to court, but the police still came," Duterte added. "I do not feel safe. I feel like they will kill me." Duterte did not appear before the Quezon City court on Friday, the day the warrant was issued. Additional police forces had been deployed at the Hall of Justice, with cops bringing inside the building a backdrop used for taking mugshots. Police were securing the area on Saturday as well. The DOJ filed three counts of grave threats against the vice president over her remarks that she hired an individual to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former speaker Martin Romualdez, should an alleged plot against her succeed. Following this, Duterte filed a motion to quash on the ground of jurisdiction, arguing that she and other impeachable officers have limited procedural immunity while in office under the 1987 Constitution. The court held oral arguments on Duterte’s motion in late August. For her part, Duterte previously said her remarks were "maliciously taken out of logical context." The vice president's alleged grave threats against Marcos is also the basis of one of the Articles of Impeachment against her in the ongoing trial before the Senate impeachment court. — VDV, GMA News