QC court defers Sara Duterte's arraignment as VP calls Marcos an 'addict'

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City Regional Trial Court deferred on Friday, September 11, the arraignment of Vice President Sara Duterte for her grave threats charge after a motion filed by her camp. 

The court ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to comment on the motion before it rules, Duterte's lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim told reporters. 

Until then, Duterte will not be formally read the charges or asked to enter a plea.

Duterte's lawyer declined to disclose the contents of the motion. 

The DOJ, in a statement, said it respects the court's decision to postpone the arraignment pending a resolution of the motion by the defense. 

"We will allow the judicial process to take its course. At this point, the prosecution will reserve further comment until the motion has been resolved," it said.

The department declined to comment on the nature of Duterte's motion.

Duterte went to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in person on Friday, where she fired up a crowd of supporters in her calls for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to step down.

"Umalis ka diyan! Sinungaling ka! Abusado ka!" she said, addressing Marcos. (Get out of there! You're a liar! You're abusive!)

She accused Marcos of bringing "nothing but hardship" to Filipinos and called him an "addict," a familiar refrain that her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, also hurled at Marcos.  

"That's how it is with addicts. Their thinking is no longer grounded in reality," she said in Filipino.

"Remember, we will keep calling for the departure of our country's problem, whose name is Bongbong Marcos," she said.

Duterte thanked the crowd for skipping work "just to show the whole world the abusive nature of the administration."

"Our fight is not on social media, because our enemy is inside government buildings," she said.

The case against Duterte stems from a November 2024 briefing, where she said she had hired someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she herself were killed. 

The charges were filed in relation to Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

The DOJ filed the case on August 11. 

On September 4, a Quezon City court found probable cause to try Duterte, ordered her arrest and set bail at P120,000 per count. 

Duterte appeared before the court and posted P360,000 in cash bail on September 5.

Duterte's lawyers argue that the trial court has no jurisdiction over the case, saying the 1987 Constitution gives impeachable officials limited procedural immunity while in office. 

The Quezon City court already rejected her bid to quash the charges on jurisdictional grounds before it issued the arrest warrant.

In her petition before the Supreme Court, Duterte argued that prosecuting her while she is vice president is an illegal way of removing her from office without an impeachment conviction.