DOJ files grave threats case vs Sara

MANILA, Philippines — Aside from the same charge already tackled during her ongoing impeachment trial, Vice President Sara Duterte is facing yet another case of grave threats over her remarks to have President Marcos and members of his family killed.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed the filing of a grave threats case against Duterte yesterday before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

The case is for violation of Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act, according to DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez.

“Our prosecutors saw that there was prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction to indict the Vice President for the crime of grave threats by means of the cyberspace,” he told reporters.

He noted it was “the same matter referred to by the (National Bureau of Investigation) to the DOJ, which is currently one of the subjects of the ongoing impeachment proceedings against the Vice President.”

The NBI filed the complaint for grave threats and inciting to sedition against Duterte in February 2025, which cited her remarks during an online press briefing in November 2024 that she has hired someone to take out President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and his cousin former speaker Martin Romualdez, should she be killed.

In May 2025, Duterte called on the DOJ to dismiss the “false and baseless” complaints against her, saying “being accused of a criminal offense, I am constitutionally presumed innocent even in these proceedings, and need not dignify the complaint with a reply, when no evidence has been shown to support it.”

Martinez noted the inciting to sedition complaint has been dismissed, apparently for lack of evidence.

He also maintained the upcoming handling of the grave threats case against Duterte by the Quezon City court “should not be affected by the ongoing impeachment proceeding and vice versa,” since both courts are “procedurally distinct and separate.”

Martinez disclosed that Duterte faces one count of grave threats with bail fixed at P120,000.

It was contrary to the statement from Duterte’s lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim that she was slapped with “three counts of grave threats.”

“Under prevailing circumstances, we have anticipated and prepared for such an outcome. Under our laws, the Vice President continues to be presumed innocent and is confident that the charges against her will ultimately be dismissed,” Lim said in a statement.

Lim added that as a sitting impeachable officer, the Vice President may not be prosecuted for an alleged offense that is also the subject of an impeachment case.

“Given these serious legal issues, the Vice President will exercise all available legal remedies in due course,” he said. — Bella Cariaso

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