Grave threats vs VP should be quashed, counsel insists

MANILA, Philippines — A counsel for Vice President Sara Duterte insisted that the grave threats case filed against her by the Department of Justice (DOJ) should be dismissed.

“The court saw the importance of our manifestation, that’s why the oral arguments were set,” Duterte lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim told reporters after the oral arguments yesterday at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

DOJ spokesman Polo Martinez, however, reiterated its position that the prosecution has found prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction to charge Duterte with three counts of grave threats.

“We’re just doing our part in the prosecution as part of our mandate. If we see that the evidence is sufficient, we proceed to trial, we file it and then we prosecute it,” Martinez said.

“If the circumstances show that they satisfy the elements of the crime, that being grave threats, we will proceed with it,” he added.

The DOJ filed the case similar to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding the online press briefing in November 2024 where Duterte claimed that she had hired someone to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and former speaker Martin Romualdez, should she be killed.

Lim stressed that cases cannot be filed against impeachable officers until after their terms.

“Our Constitution says that cases should not be filed against an impeachable officer because they have important work in the government that should not be disrupted with other cases like criminal cases,” the counsel said.

He also noted that the independence of constitutional bodies should not be influenced, that’s why the filing of criminal charges should be prohibited.

Martinez, however, said the grave threats case against the Vice President should push through amid the ongoing impeachment trial proceedings.

‘VP scam’

The defense did not dispute the contents of the documents presented yesterday as another hostile witness took the stand regarding the use of the Vice President’s confidential funds.

Defense counsel Kristine Ferrer noted that Lemuel Ortonio, assistant secretary of the OVP, has been asked to interpret documents which he did not help draft.

“We don’t dispute the contents of those documents. In fact we can stipulate on the amounts… if that’s the line of questioning that the counsel would follow because if the questioning would refer to the amounts, to the number of days, etc., just to abbreviate the proceedings we can stipulate on those,” Ferrer said.

But Ferrer said the defense will not stipulate after private lawyer Mae Divinagracia used the word “scam” for the OVP’s explanations on the expenses in relation to the confidential funds.

Ferrer said Ortonio already stated that he had no participation in the execution of certain documents like the physical and financial plan (PFP) and the accomplishment reports.

Defense cool to Madriaga

The defense was cool to the proposal of Paolo Panelo, another counsel of the Vice President, to tap alleged bagman Ramil Madriaga as star witness.

“The truth of the matter is Mr. Madriaga is listed as a witness in the prosecution according to their pre-trial brief. He’s also listed as our witness in our pre-trial brief. But see, Atty. Panelo is not part of the defense team,” defense spokesman Michael Poa said.

Poa issued the reaction after Panelo said Madriaga could be a Trojan Horse for the defense even if he lied when he read his sworn supplemental affidavit during the hearing of the House committee on justice on April 14, claiming that Duterte’s P125-million confidential funds were spent in less than 24 hours and not 11 days as previously reported.

Panelo represented Duterte when she filed two perjury cases against Madriaga before the Taguig Prosecutor’s Office.

“Let’s just see if he (Madriaga) needs to be presented or not. But for now, we won’t release any statement on the witnesses that we will present,” Poa added. — Bella Cariaso