Duterte to attend arraignment? Accused has to be there, says Poa

Vice President Sara Duterte arrives at the Quezon City Hall of Justice on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, to post bail following an arrest warrant issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98. The warrant stems from three counts of grave threats filed against her. — Photo by Grig C. Montegrande/INQUIRER MANILA, Philippines — Will Vice President Sara Duterte attend her arraignment for the grave threats case before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC)? Duterte’s lawyer for the impeachment trial Michael Poa declined to give a direct answer, but he said that accused individuals have to be present for their arraignment. “For an arraignment, the accused really has to be there to enter a plea or to not enter a plea if she so decides,” Poa said in a press briefing on the sidelines of Duterte’s impeachment trial on Tuesday, when asked if the Vice President is needed to be there physically. Article continues after this advertisement When asked if he will accompany Duterte during the arraignment on Friday, Poa said they have not talked about it, saying that the vice president’s lawyer for the case, Atty. Paul Lawrence Lim, might go with her. READ: Arrest warrant issued vs Sara Duterte over grave threats “Right now we have not talked about it. Atty. Paul Lim is really the counsel she assigned for that case, especially because now I’m very occupied with the (impeachment) proceedings so we have not talked about it,” Poa said. “But maybe it’s Atty. Paul Lim who will be present. I might not be there but I’ll have to consult the VP regarding that,” he added. Last Friday, the Quezon City RTC Branch 98 issued an arrest order against Duterte over three counts of grave threats — one each for the threat she made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and his cousin former House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. Article continues after this advertisement In a contributed photo of the arrest warrant against Duterte dated Sept. 4, the court set bail at P120,000 for each of the three counts of grave threats. On Saturday, Duterte showed up before the Quezon City RTC to post her bail. Poa and Lim were there. Article continues after this advertisement At one point, Duterte appeared to be asking Poa as to how she will post her bail with several police officers around, saying that she does not feel safe as she might be gunned down like former Senator Ninoy Aquino was shot. Duterte said she also does not trust the court. “I do not feel safe, I really do not feel safe. I don’t trust the court, I don’t trust the police,” she told reporters and her lawyers. READ: Sara Duterte posts bail: ‘I don’t trust the court’ The case stemmed from a complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation, after Duterte threatened the Marcos couple and Romualdez during a Nov. 23, 2024 online press briefing. As she criticized the House for detaining her chief-of-staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, Duterte went online for a briefing to berate the First Couple and Romualdez. Duterte was then asked by a vlogger to take care as she may be in danger. The vice president replied by urging people not to worry as she has talked to a person about killing the Marcos couple and Romualdez if she herself gets killed. “Do not worry about my security because I already spoke to someone. I said, ‘If I am killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez.’ No joke, no joke,” Duterte said in the November 2024 briefing. READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace The same matter has been the subject of the impeachment complaints against Duterte, which eventually was included in the Articles of Impeachment transmitted to the Senate last May 13. The threats were included as Article IV, which the House prosecution panel has finished tackling. READ: With or without contract to kill, VP made impeachable offense – lawmaker Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. The defense panel for Duterte’s impeachment has maintained that Duterte’s statements were part of free speech, but several government officials and the prosecution team believe it was a grave threat — regardless of whether or not the vice president executed a contract with an assassin to kill the three. /das