A QUEZON CITY (QC) regional trial court (RTC) has rejected Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio’s motion seeking the inhibition of the judge handling the three grave threat cases against her, allowing the proceedings to continue under the same judge.
In an order dated Sept. 14, RTC Branch 98 Presiding Judge Maria Angelica P. De Ramos rejected Ms. Duterte’s allegations that the court had shown manifest partiality, bias and favoritism toward the prosecution.
The cases stemmed from remarks Ms. Duterte made during a virtual press conference in November 2024, when she said she had arranged for someone to assassinate President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., First Lady Marie Louise Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez if she herself were killed.
The Department of Justice later filed three counts of grave threats against Ms. Duterte over the remarks. She has said they were not genuine threats and were “maliciously taken out of logical context.”
The RTC issued a warrant for Ms. Duterte’s arrest on Sept. 4 after finding probable cause to hold her for trial on the three counts. She posted P360,000 bail the following day, or P120,000 for each count.
Her arraignment, which had been set for Sept. 11, did not proceed after her camp filed the motion seeking the judge’s inhibition.
Ms. Duterte filed the motion on Sept. 10, alleging that the court had helped the prosecution in establishing probable cause by directing it to submit digital evidence that was not part of its initial submission.
She called the omission a “fatal flaw,” arguing that the evidence initially submitted by the prosecution was insufficient to establish probable cause for the three charges.
She also argued that the court should have determined probable cause only from the charge sheet and supporting evidence already on record and should have dismissed the cases if these failed to establish probable cause.
The court rejected the claim of bias, saying there was no clear and convincing evidence of actual bias, prejudgment or an improper connection that would call its impartiality into question.
It also rejected the argument that the judge’s appointment by the President was sufficient basis to question her impartiality, citing judicial independence, separation of powers and the presumption that judges discharge their duties according to law.
Ms. De Ramos said she “sees no cogent reason” for her to inhibit or recuse herself from hearing these cases absent of any clear and convincing evidence of bias.
The court denied the motion “for utter lack of merit.”
Paul Lawrence Lim, counsel for Ms. Duterte in the grave threat cases, said the Vice-President would exercise all available remedies following the denial.
“We confirm receiving the Quezon City RTC Branch 98’s order denying our motion for inhibition of the honorable presiding judge,” Mr. Lim said in a statement on Tuesday.
He said the defense had also received the court’s order directing both parties to strictly comply with the sub judice rule and refrain from publicly discussing the merits of the case.
“We will continue to comply, consistent with the Vice-President’s respect for the rule of law,” Mr. Lim added. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez