Afraid na afraid

Suing Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte before a Quezon City regional trial court for three counts of grave threats (Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code) was a masterstroke, legally and politically. For these reasons:

1. The RTC Branch 98 court case proves that indeed you can sue the Philippine vice president for alleged crimes like grave threats, bribery and plunder. Previously, the conventional wisdom was that only through an impeachment could an erring vice president be made accountable.

2. The RTC gave due course to the case of grave threats. The judge believes there is probable cause or reasonable grounds that Sara committed the crime of grave threats based on the factual circumstances. Accordingly, Branch 98 presiding judge Maria Angelica de Ramos thus issued the corresponding arrest warrant. And released it to all law enforcement officers. From 3 p.m. of Saturday, Sept. 4 when the judge issued the arrest warrant, to 11 a.m. of Sept 5, Saturday, when she posted bail, VIP style, Sara was a wanted person, nationwide.

3. The RTC case sends signals to the Senate impeachment court (IC) there are other ways to make Sara Duterte accountable if the IC fails in its constitutional duty to convict the VP despite clear, convincing and compelling evidence of serious wrongdoing.

4. At the RTC, Duterte declared, “I do not feel safe.” In effect, Sara defined what grave threats mean to a victim. It means feeling unsafe.

The VP also said, “I don’t trust the court.” In effect, she gave a damning statement that a person, even one of Sara’s stature as the second highest official and one with a legendary name, indeed cannot trust the Philippine court system.

Sara’s dad, Digong Duterte, had claimed before the International Criminal Court in The Hague that he should be tried in Philippine courts, which could be trusted to render justice to every man, guilty or innocent. Now, her own daughter says, “I don’t trust the court.”

On Feb. 12, 2026, the National Bureau of Investigation filed a complaint of inciting to sedition and grave threats against VP Duterte. The complaint was filed by the Department of Justice with RTC Branch 98.

In a Nov. 23, 2024 online media briefing, an enraged Sara Duterte ranted: “May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi sa kanya: kapag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke. Pag namatay ako, huwag kang tumigil hangga’t hindi mapatay sila. And then he said yes.” Earlier on Oct. 18, 2024, Sara expressed her violent intent to cut off the head of President Marcos Jr.: “Gusto ko tanggalin yung ulo niya. I imagine myself cutting his head.”

The videos of the two instances of grave threats by Sara were presented to the Senate impeachment court as Article IV of the four Articles of Impeachment charge against the VP.

Additionally, on April 12, 2023, Sara’s brother, Baste Duterte, declared in a video that they needed only one head to be cut off, the head of President Marcos Jr.

At 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, Presiding Judge De Ramos issued an arrest warrant against VP Duterte for three counts of grave threats, one for each target she enumerated – threatening to kill President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos and former speaker Martin Romualdez. A P120,000 bail was imposed for each count, a total of P360,000.

Before 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept, 5, 2026, a prettified Sara in a black dress and diamond earrings showed up at the RTC to post bail. She was accompanied by an army of handpicked police bodyguards, disdaining the security escorts provided by the Philippine National Police and the court’s own security guards. “I do not feel safe here!” she declared in English, insulting 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, insulting the court and the police. She asked reporters and photographers to stand behind her as an additional security buffer as she climbed the stairs up to RTC Branch 98.

Sara imagined a Ninoy Aquino scenario where the late opposition senator was shot dead by one of his security escorts while coming down the stairs of the China Airlines aircraft that carried him from Taipei to Manila, accompanied by hordes of newsmen and cameramen as his protection, on Aug. 21, 1983.

Reported the Inquirer on Saturday’s drama: “Duterte initially refused to enter the building, laying out several scenarios she feared could put her life at risk. She worried that she could be placed in a small elevator with police officers, leaving her vulnerable.”

“Who will answer for it if I die later tonight? Who will be held accountable?” Sara Duterte asked rhetorically before the TV cameras.

This is a woman who has threatened to kill the President, the First Lady and the speaker. Publicly. This is a woman with a legendary personal security force of 400 people – twice the size of the 200-strong security contingent of MILF chief Nur Misuari while MILF was battling the army in many places. Sara feels unsafe. She distrusts the court.

In the Articles of Impeachment filed by Congress (they were signed by 257 congressmen, 81 percent of all the congressmen), the Prosecution says:

“The explicit threats against the life of the President and other high officials, her conduct that undermines and threatens democratic stability, combined with the misuse of confidential funds, acts of bribery and corruption of public officials and SALN Law violations, collectively demonstrate a consistent disregard for the duties of her office and the oath she swore to uphold.”

“Respondent (Duterte) is shown to have used the authority, platform and resources of her office in a manner that has generated fear, division and institutional instability.”

Backed by 257 congressmen, the House wants VP Sara removed from office and perpetually disqualified from holding office.

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