THE Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday filed a grave threat charge against Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) over remarks threatening the assassination of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and his family.
“We confirm that the complaint for Grave Threats against Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio was filed today, August 11, 2026, at around 1:30 p.m. with the Office of the Clerk of Court of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court,” DoJ spokesman Raphael Niccolo “Polo” L. Martinez told reporters via Viber.
The case stemmed from Ms. Duterte’s remarks during a virtual press conference in November 2024, when she said she had arranged for someone to assassinate Mr. Marcos, First Lady Marie Louise Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, if she were killed.
The case is the same matter referred by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the DoJ and is also among the subjects of the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Ms. Duterte.
Mr. Martinez said prosecutors found prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction after the preliminary investigation, leading to the filing of the criminal case in court.
He said the criminal case is separate and distinct from the impeachment proceedings.
“We know that the impeachment proceeding is currently under the authority of the Legislature right now… But procedurally speaking, the criminal case before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court should not be affected by the ongoing impeachment proceeding, and the same applies vice versa to the ongoing impeachment trial,” Mr. Martinez told reporters in mixed English and Filipino.
The DoJ also dismissed the NBI complaint for inciting to sedition after prosecutors found no prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction for the offense, Mr. Martinez added.
Counsel for Ms. Duterte, Paul Lawrence Lim, confirmed the charges filed by the DoJ and argued that the VP, as a sitting impeachable officer, may not be prosecuted for an alleged offense that is also the subject of an impeachment case.
“We confirm that today, the DoJ filed 3 counts of Grave Threats cases against the Vice-President with the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City,” he said in a statement.
“Equally important, as a sitting impeachable officer, the Vice-President may not be prosecuted for an alleged offense that is also the subject of an impeachment case. Given these serious legal issues, the Vice-President will exercise all available legal remedies in due course,” he added.
The DoJ said the issue of the Vice-President’s immunity from prosecution is a legal argument that should be raised before the court and declined to comment on its merits.
“We cannot comment on any merits as of now… We can only discuss procedurally,” Mr. Martinez said.
CONFIDENTIAL FUNDSMeanwhile, during the continuation of Ms. Duterte’s impeachment trial, a Commission on Audit (CoA) official said that the post-audit submissions of Ms. Duterte’s office failed to prove accomplishments required by the agency.
CoA Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Office auditor Xylene Mae L. del Campo on Tuesday said the Office of the Vice-President (OVP) only submitted lists of activities where the confidential funds were spent but failed to prove success of information gathering and payment of rewards.
“This list was presented as proof of successful information gathering to support the payment of rewards. But based on these documents, we did not see the particular accomplishment,” Ms. del Campo said, referring to the OVP’s letter of response to CoA’s notice of suspension issued in 2022 in relation to the liquidation of their confidential funds.
The OVP listed 105 activities from Dec. 13-31, 2022, according to a letter signed by OVP Chief of Staff Zuleika T. Lopez and Assistant Secretary Lemuel G. Ortonio as presented by the prosecution.
When pressed by House of Representatives private prosecution counsel Lorna P. Kapunan on the compliance of the document for CoA’s post-auditing requirements, Ms. del Campo said the documents failed to show proof of success of information gathering, a requirement when there is payment of rewards.
“There are activities from December 13, 15, 17, [and] 18 that are not covered by the period of utilization of the cash advance, which is for December 21 to 31, 2022,” she added.
She explained that Joint Circular 2015-01 prohibits the use of confidential funds to reimburse expenditures made prior to the encashment.
It also provided that confidential funds for the payment of rewards must be approved by the head of the agency, supported with documents evidencing success of the information gathering, and directly related to the agency’s confidential activities.
The list attached in the OVP’s submission, however, included activities, such as tree planting, appreciation nights, distribution activities, yuletide parties, and a medical mission, which do not fall under the allowable activities for confidential funds based on the auditing circular.
For the Department of Education (DepEd), which Ms. Duterte handled from 2022 to 2024, the prosecution also presented acknowledgement receipts showing disbursements of confidential funds ranging from P45,000 to P500,000 to several individuals in different locations on the same date, Feb. 25, 2023.
The witness said the special disbursing officer (SDO) is the only authorized person to distribute cash advances based on the joint circular.
At the time of the disbursements alluded to by Ms. Kapunan, the DepEd’s SDO was Edward Fajarda, who earlier admitted handing cash envelopes to some of the agency’s officials.
“Let the documents speak for itself. That if indeed, the officer is the only one authorized to disburse the funds, then clearly it is physically impossible to be in all of these locations in one day,” Senate impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” G. Escudero said. “Earlier there was an admission that the SDO gave the funds to Col. Lachica, probably even more. That remains to be seen and proven in the coming days.”
Ms. del Campo said Ms. Duterte did not attach to their CoA submission any letter showing authorization for Mr. Fajarda to delegate the disbursement of cash to other officials.
“It was only stated that Mr. Fajarda was the special disbursing officer of DepEd for the confidential funds,” she said.
Ms. del Campo is testifying on the first article of impeachment against Ms. Duterte, which alleges her misuse of confidential funds amounting to P612.5 million, with P500 million spent by the OVP and the remaining P112.5 million for DepEd.
Previous proceedings, with the testimony of former CoA state auditor Roderick C. Wamil, have shown that P125 million have been requested by the OVP for encashment quarterly, while the DepEd requested P37.5 million in three periods in 2023. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez and Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel