VP Sara Duterte faces arrest warrant; tight security at QC Hall of Justice

Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were seen at the Quezon City Hall of Justice early Saturday morning to provide security after a Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued an arrest warrant against Vice President Sara Duterte. The building security requested for the deployment of police personnel to provide additional security, according to a report by GMA News reporter Gabriel Gonzales. Police officers said they do not have information yet on when Duterte will post bail. Based on the standard work and operating schedule, the courts are closed on weekends. Duterte failed to appear at the QC RTC on Friday following the issuance of an arrest warrant against her. The QC RTC Branch 98 issued the warrant of arrest against Duterte after it found probable cause to hold her for trial over her grave threats case. “Together with its supporting evidence, and after due consideration of the arguments raised by both parties in their oral arguments, the Court finds that there is probable cause to hold the accused for trial for the crimes charged in the Informations,” it said. Duterte's lawyer said the vice president would face the charges head on. "Regardless of the question on jurisdiction, she has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies," lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim, her counsel, said in a statement. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said the court set the bail at P120,000 per count. In August, the DOJ filed charges for three counts of grave threats against Duterte over her remarks that she hired a person to kill President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and others if she dies. —KG, GMA News