Sara Duterte–Marcos Death Threat Case

The story so far

As of September 4, 2026

A trial court in Quezon City has ordered the arrest of Vice President Sara Duterte on three counts of grave threats tied to a videoed remark she made on Nov. 23, 2024. In that online press briefing she said she had arranged for someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed. Branch 98 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court issued the warrant on Sept. 4 and set bail at 120,000 pesos for each count. Her lawyers say she will not evade arrest and plan to post bail while pursuing legal challenges.

The case turns on whether her public, conditional statement meets the crime of grave threats, which punishes threats to commit a crime, and whether doing so online triggers higher penalties under the Cybercrime Prevention Act. The Department of Justice filed three counts in August after a National Bureau of Investigation probe, and the court’s issuance of a warrant means a judge found probable cause to proceed, not that guilt has been decided.

What now matters is less the two-year-old video than the rules it is testing in real time. One is whether a sitting vice president can be arrested and tried while in office. Constitutional lawyers point to the absence of any immunity for the vice president, while Duterte’s camp argues the criminal case should not move while the same conduct is part of her impeachment trial in the Senate. Prosecutors involved in the impeachment say the tracks are separate and can both continue.

The same video is central evidence in both arenas, which is why the legal questions about jurisdiction and immunity now drive events. A criminal conviction for grave threats carries a possible short jail term, while the impeachment case could remove her from office and bar her from running again, including in 2028. The feud between the Marcos and Duterte camps is the backdrop, but the immediate pivot is the court’s conclusion that the remarks support a criminal case that will now go to trial.