DOJ, VP legal team face QC RTC hearing over Duterte grave threat case

Following Tuesday’s first hearing on the grave threat charges against Vice President Sara Duterte at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, the Department of Justice (DOJ) stood by its position to prosecute the official, citing sufficient evidence, while the legal team maintained that there should be no “case” against an impeachable officer while the term has not yet ended.

“As previously said, just to reiterate our position, the prosecution sees prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction to charge the Vice President with grave threats,” DOJ Spokesperson Atty. Polo Martinez said.

“That’s three counts of grave threats. We are just doing our part in the prosecution to fulfill our mandate na kapag nakita namin that the evidence is sufficient to proceed to trial. We file it and then we prosecute it,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Vice President’s legal counsel maintained that a sitting impeachable officer should not face a case while in office, citing constitutional protection due to the official’s government functions.

“This is because the Constitution itself says that a sitting impeachable officer should not be charged yet because the official has important duties in the government that should not be disrupted by criminal cases,” Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim said.

The counsel noted that any case against an impeachable officer, such as Duterte, should only be filed after the official’s term of public service has ended.

He clarified that the legal team does not imply a prohibition on filing a case against an impeachable officer, but rather maintains that such proceedings should not be initiated until the officer’s term ends.

“We filed a motion to quash for the Vice President, and we filed a Manifestation. We told the court, ‘It is important that this be discussed before it [the RTC] decides on our motion,’” Lim said.

The DOJ filed three counts of grave threats against Duterte on 11 August, stemming from the controversial remarks of the Vice President in November 2024 involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Duterte said she had instructed someone to kill Marcos, the First Lady, and Romualdez if she herself was killed.

"Huwag kang mag-alala, Ma'am sa security ko, kasi may kinausap na ako na tao. Sabi ko sa kanya, kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez,” the Vice President said during an online conference on 23 November 2024.

Martinez, however, stressed that the Justice Department will let the judicial process take its course regarding the three counts of grave threats against Duterte and will refrain from further commenting on the merits of the case for the meantime.