DOJ files grave threats charges vs VP Sara Duterte

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a criminal complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte over alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez confirmed Tuesday that prosecutors filed three counts of grave threats against Duterte before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. The case is based on remarks she made during an online press conference in November 2024.

During the press conference, Duterte said she had spoken with another person about having the President, his wife and Romualdez killed if an alleged attempt to kill her succeeded. Her remarks came amid a political dispute involving the House of Representatives and the detention of her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez.

At the time, lawmakers were investigating Duterte’s alleged use of confidential and intelligence funds during her tenure as vice president and as education secretary.

The complaint was initially referred to the DOJ by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in February 2025 after the agency investigated Duterte’s statements.

Martinez said prosecutors found sufficient evidence to proceed with the grave threats charges.

“After preliminary investigation… the 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 Cybercrime Prevention Act,” Martinez told reporters.

The charges invoke Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

The offense is bailable at P120,000 for each count, according to Martinez.

The DOJ also investigated a separate allegation of inciting to sedition but dismissed the accusation, saying prosecutors found insufficient evidence to meet the required threshold for filing charges.

Martinez said prosecutors determined that the elements needed to establish inciting to sedition were not sufficiently present in the evidence.

Duterte’s camp vows legal action

Duterte’s legal team said it had expected the DOJ’s decision and would challenge the charges through available legal remedies.

“Under our laws, the Vice President continues to be presumed innocent and is confident that the charges against her will ultimately be dismissed,” lawyer Paul Lim, Duterte’s counsel, said in a statement.

Lim also argued that Duterte, as a sitting impeachable official, should not face a separate criminal prosecution for conduct that is also cited in the ongoing impeachment proceedings against her. The alleged threat is included in Article 4 of the impeachment articles.

The DOJ, however, maintained that the criminal case can proceed independently of the impeachment trial.

Asked whether the department believed the criminal case could move forward while the impeachment proceedings were ongoing, Martinez told Agence France-Presse, “That’s correct.”

He added that the criminal proceedings are now under the jurisdiction of the courts.

Martinez also rejected any suggestion that the impeachment proceedings influenced the DOJ’s findings. He said the evidence considered during the preliminary investigation was separate from the material presented during the Senate trial.

“The pieces of evidence presented during the preliminary investigation were distinct from what was released during the impeachment proceedings,” he said.

Legal proceedings continue

University of the Philippines College of Law professor Dante Gatmaytan said the criminal and impeachment cases could proceed separately.

“This is not unconstitutional,” he said in a phone interview. “There might be theories that can be applied later on, but right now, nothing will stop the DOJ from proceeding with the criminal case.”

Under Philippine law, conviction for grave threats may carry imprisonment ranging from one to six months, depending on the circumstances and applicable provisions.

Duterte was impeached in May over several allegations, including accusations involving graft and corruption. The alleged threats against Marcos, the First Lady and Romualdez form part of the impeachment case now being heard by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court.

The filing of the criminal complaint adds a separate legal proceeding to the political and constitutional battle surrounding the Vice President, whose political future has also been closely watched ahead of the 2028 presidential elections.

The criminal case will now proceed through the regular judicial process, where Duterte will have the opportunity to contest the allegations and present her defense.