MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio has secured a second postponement of her arraignment on three counts of grave threats involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and two other high-ranking officials, as a Quezon City court weighs legal challenges filed by her defense team.
The arraignment, originally scheduled for September 11, was deferred again on Friday, October 9, after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98 opted to resolve pending motions before proceeding with the criminal case.
Duterte-Carpio’s lawyer, Paul Lawrence Lim, said the presiding judge decided to hold off on the arraignment while considering the defense’s legal remedies before the trial court and the Supreme Court.
“Minabuti nga ng judge na huwag munang ituloy ang arraignment today,” Lim said in an ambush interview.
The latest postponement prolongs the preliminary stage of the criminal proceedings against the Vice President, who faces charges arising from her controversial remarks about having President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed if anything happened to her.
Lim said the defense had filed a motion for partial reconsideration ad cautelam, seeking to reverse the trial court’s earlier rejection of its request for the presiding judge to inhibit from handling the case.
Although the judge previously denied the motion for inhibition, the court allowed the defense to seek a postponement of the arraignment.
Duterte-Carpio’s legal team has also elevated the dispute to the Supreme Court through a petition for certiorari, accompanied by an application for a temporary restraining order.
The petition seeks intervention from the high tribunal in connection with the proceedings before the Quezon City court.
Lim declined to disclose the next arraignment date, saying the announcement should come from either the court or the prosecution.
The three grave threat charges stemmed from Duterte-Carpio’s statements during an online press conference in November 2024, when she claimed to have instructed someone to kill Marcos, his wife and Romualdez should she herself be killed.
The remarks triggered controversy and eventually became the basis of criminal proceedings against the Vice President.
The Department of Justice filed the three counts of grave threats against Duterte-Carpio on August 11, 2026.
On September 4, the Quezon City court issued a warrant for her arrest in connection with the charges. She posted bail the following day, allowing her to remain free while the case proceeds.
Following an earlier court appearance at the Quezon City Hall of Justice, Duterte-Carpio thanked her supporters and legal team.
With the arraignment postponed for a second time, the Vice President has yet to be formally arraigned on the charges.
The case remains pending as the trial court considers the defense’s outstanding motions, while a separate legal challenge awaits action from the Supreme Court./PN
