Sara Duterte seeks oral arguments on grave threats case

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte's lawyers are formally pushing for oral arguments to be held on their motion to junk the grave threats case against her, saying the "far-reaching consequences" of the complaint could reach even the president.

"The defense is now filing a manifestation emphasizing the need for oral arguments on the Vice President’s motion to quash, considering the far-reaching consequences of the Grave Threats cases," Paul Lawrence Lim, lawyer and Duterte's counsel on the NBI grave threats case, said in a statement.

If the vice president may be "indicted and prosecuted," Lim said other impeachable officers "such as the Ombudsman, members of the Constitutional Commissions, Supreme Court Justices, and even the President, may also be indicted and prosecuted."

The Department of Justice confirmed earlier this week that a criminal complaint was lodged against Duterte for three counts of grave threats at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Her camp filed a motion to quash the charges, as Lim confirmed in a statement Thursday, August 13.

The filing of three counts of grave threats was done in relation to Duterte's now-infamous November 2024 online press conference, in which she said she had hired an individual to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the first lady and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez should she herself be killed.

Duterte uttered such remarks amid a longer meltdown that criticized the detention of her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, by the House of Representatives.

The same remarks also now form Article IV of the impeachment complaint against Duterte.

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