Palace Respects Court's Arrest Warrant vs. VP Duterte

Malacañang on Friday said it respects the Quezon City (QC) court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Vice President Sara Duterte in connection with her grave threats case. "The Palace respects any decision or order from the court," Palace Press Officer Usec. Claire Castro said in a statement. Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim, Duterte’s counsel for the grave threats cases filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), announced Friday afternoon that a Quezon City regional trial court has issued a warrant of arrest against the Vice President. "Regardless of the question on jurisdiction, she has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies," Lim said. A source in the Department of Justice (DOJ) also confirmed the information to GMA News. In early August, 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. Prosecutors recommended the bail to be set at P120,000 per count. 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. Duterte’s alleged grave threats against the President is also the basis of one of the Articles of Impeachment against her in the ongoing trial before the Senate impeachment court. — RSJ, GMA News