Sara asks SC to act on bid to halt grave threats case

Vice President Sara Duterte has asked the Supreme Court to urgently resolve her plea for an injunction against the criminal proceedings over the three grave threats charges against her, warning that the case could advance beyond the point where judicial relief would still be effective.

In an urgent motion dated 7 September, Duterte’s lawyers urged the high court to act on her pending application before the 11 September, 8:30 a.m. arraignment and pretrial set by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98.

“The imminent arraignment and pre-trial demonstrate that the criminal proceedings are not merely threatened but are actively and rapidly progressing,” the motion said.

The QC RTC Branch 98 ordered the issuance of an arrest warrant against Duterte on Sept. 4 after finding probable cause to hold her for trial on three counts of grave threats. The court set bail at P120,000 for each count.

Duterte posted P360,000 bail on Sept. 5, but her legal team maintained its challenge to the jurisdiction of the trial court.

Duterte’s camp said the trial court’s schedule showed that the criminal case was moving rapidly despite the “serious and far-reaching jurisdictional and constitutional issues” raised before the Supreme Court.

They argued that the scheduled proceedings showed the criminal case was “actively and rapidly progressing” despite the constitutional and jurisdictional questions raised in Duterte's petition.

The lawyers said allowing the arraignment and pre-trial to proceed could “irreversibly deprive” Duterte and her office of the constitutional protection she is asking the Supreme Court to enforce.

The QC court previously rejected Duterte's effort to quash the criminal case on jurisdictional grounds before issuing the arrest warrant. The DOJ said the court found probable cause after evaluating the prosecution's evidence and the arguments raised during oral arguments.###