Court Issues Arrest Warrant for VP Sara Duterte Over Grave Threats Case

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang respects the court’s decision to issue a warrant of arrest against Vice President Sara Duterte over three counts of grave threats, Palace Press Officer and Undersecretary Claire Castro said on Friday. “The Palace respects any decision or order issued by the court,” Castro said in a Viber message to reporters. Duterte’s lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim announced that Branch 98 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court had issued a warrant of arrest against the vice president. “Today, the Quezon City RTC 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,” it read. Lim is Duterte’s counsel in the grave threats case filed by the National Bureau of Investigation in connection with her remarks during an online press briefing on Nov. 23, 2024. During the forum, Duterte said she had spoken to someone and instructed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez should be killed if she would be assassinated. /apl