Lawyers representing Vice President Sara Duterte have called on a Quezon City court to defer issuing an arrest warrant while it evaluates her motion to quash three grave threats charges, maintaining that the tribunal must first address the crucial issue of jurisdiction.
During a virtual press conference, defense attorney Paul Lawrence Lim explained that deciding on a warrant inherently requires the court to exercise authority over the matter.
As a result, the legal team filed a request seeking to postpone any arrest orders until jurisdictional questions are fully resolved.
”The deferment of arrest warrant is one of the things that we asked from the court,” Lim said.
“And what I can say is that the issuance of a warrant is an exercise of jurisdiction,” he said.
The charges, initiated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), stem from statements made by Duterte during a November 2024 online press conference regarding an alleged assassination plot targeting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The defense maintains that a sitting impeachable official should not face criminal prosecution until their tenure concludes.
Lim said the defense’s stance is that an “impeachable official may eventually be prosecuted if the official committed a crime, but that such prosecution should take place after the official’s term.”
To address the significant constitutional implications, the defense has asked the court to schedule oral arguments before issuing a final ruling.
Lim said the defense wants “oral arguments so both sides can fully present their positions on those questions before the court resolves the motion.”
When asked whether Duterte would submit to authorities if the motion to quash is denied and a warrant is issued, Lim stated that no final decision has been reached regarding their potential legal steps.
”We still don’t have a final decision regarding the actual actions and the available remedies that we have,” Lim said.
”There are a lot of remedies that are available,” he added.
“As of now, I cannot say, but all options are being considered,” Lim said.
The defense team is currently waiting for the Quezon City court’s ruling on both the motion to quash and the request for oral arguments before determining its next course of action.