Philippine court orders arrest of VP Duterte over President Marcos threats

By AFP and Reuters. Published On 4 Sep 20264 Sep 2026.

Key points

• Duterte – the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte – and Marcos ran as running mates in 2022 before their alliance collapsed into open hostility.
• A Philippine court has ordered the arrest of Vice President Sara Duterte over allegations that she arranged the assassination of the president.
• Her father is now in International Criminal Court custody in The Hague, awaiting a trial over the deadly anti-drugs campaign he ran as president.
• After judges rejected a bid by her lawyers to delay it, the warrant was issued on Friday by a court in Quezon City, near Manila.
• Bail was set at $1, 900 for each of three charges of "grave threat" filed against her last month.

Meanwhile, a Philippine court has ordered the arrest of Vice President Sara Duterte over allegations that she arranged the assassination of the president.

As well as his wife and a former speaker of the House of Representatives, duterte is accused of threatening to kill former political ally President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Bail was set at $1, 900 for each of three charges of "grave threat" filed against her last month. It adds to the legal problems for the vice president. This person is already fighting for her political survival.

In practice, the threats are central to an impeachment trial introduced in the upper house Senate. A guilty verdict would remove her from office and end her 2028 presidential ambitions.

When Duterte remarked she had arranged for a hitman to kill Marcos, his wife, and his cousin, Martin Romualdez, then speaker of the House of Representatives, should she be killed, the dispute dates back to November 2024.

She insisted that she had only been voicing fear for her safety after falling out with the president.

Her lawyer, Paul Lawrence Lim, remarked in an official note that Duterte had "no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies".

For context, a justice department spokesman confirmed the warrant, rejecting her legal team's argument that she cannot be prosecuted while the same conduct is being examined in her impeachment trial.

She is unlikely to be detained shortly, even so. Authorities expect her to post bail swiftly.

Notably, a conviction on the criminal charge carries at most a sentence of six months in jail, far lighter than the political cost she faces.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, Congress's lower chamber, impeachment process is additionally based on charges related to corruption and unexplained wealth allegations, stemming from her time as vice president and earlier as education secretary.

Notably, the Senate hearing, in which she denies any wrongdoing, has been running for nine weeks.

Her father is now in International Criminal Court custody in The Hague, awaiting a trial over the deadly anti-drugs campaign he ran as president. It is estimated to have cost tens of thousands of lives.

In short, philippine court orders arrest of VP Duterte over President Marcos threats is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.