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

The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte is seeking a postponement of her arraignment on grave threat charges, citing "limited procedural immunity." Duterte's lawyer, Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim, stated on Friday that their camp is also questioning the jurisdiction of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) handling the case. Lim explained that there are two types of immunity. In their case before the RTC, they are not discussing presidential immunity, though that is being debated in the Supreme Court in other cases. "What we are talking about here at the RTC is limited procedural immunity. This means all impeachable officers, not just the vice president, cannot be charged while they are still in office, their term has not ended, and they have not been convicted by impeachment," he said. The Duterte camp has asked the court to defer the arraignment while it studies a motion filed by their camp. Lim declined to disclose the specific nature of the motion, citing its sensitivity and respect for the court. Furthermore, the defense has already filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to stop the proceedings. The petition, a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition, along with a request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or Writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction, aims to prevent the continuation of proceedings by raising questions about the Quezon City RTC's jurisdiction. —VAL, GMA News