Sara Duterte posts bail after arrest order in Marcos assassination threat case

Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte posted bail after a court ordered her arrest over alleged assassination threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and two others. The case sharpens her confrontation with the Marcos administration and could damage her 2028 presidential prospects.Image used for representational purposes onlyPhilippines Vice President Sara Duterte posted bail on Saturday after a court order for her arrest was issued a day earlier over charges that she publicly threatened to arrange the assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and two others. Duterte, who has denied the allegations, later showed a court order lifting the warrant.The case has become part of the widening political battle between Duterte and Marcos, former allies in the 2022 elections whose partnership has since broken down. A conviction could permanently bar Duterte from public office and prevent her from contesting the 2028 presidential election.Duterte appeared at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in Metro Manila wearing black and briefly met supporters outside. She hugged a woman who was crying as supporters chanted 'Duterte! Duterte!'She showed journalists a court order lifting the arrest warrant issued on Friday and said her lawyers had told her to keep a copy with her. As she headed to her car, she asked journalists to stay close to her, saying, 'If possible please go with me, because I do not feel safe with all these police personnel who are harassing those at my home, harassing me since 2023.' She added, 'What does this administration really want to do with me?' Her lawyer, Paul Lawrence Lim, said court staff took Duterte's fingerprints and that she posted 360,000 pesos in bail for three counts of grave threats. After the arrest order was issued on Friday, he said she would contest the charges. 'She has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies,' he said.The charges are linked to remarks Duterte, 48, made during an online news conference in 2024, when she said she would have Marcos, his wife and then House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed by an assassin if she herself was killed as political tensions deepened. She said at the time that the threat was not a joke. Duterte later said she had been expressing concern for her own safety and was not threatening Marcos, but the remarks led to a criminal investigation and raised national security concerns. In May, the House of Representatives, dominated by Marcos allies, voted overwhelmingly to impeach Duterte over allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of confidential state funds and the online news conference threats. The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, opened her televised trial in July.Marcos and Duterte had fought the 2022 election as running mates in an alliance that brought together two of the Philippines' most powerful political families. Marcos is the son of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., while Sara Duterte is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte.Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in 2025 on orders of the International Criminal Court and is being held in The Hague, where he is due to go on trial in late November over alleged crimes against humanity linked to his anti-drugs crackdown, in which thousands of mostly poor suspects were killed. He has denied authorising extrajudicial killings, though he repeatedly threatened suspects with death while in office. Sara Duterte has criticised the Marcos administration for handing her father over to a foreign court, which she said has no jurisdiction over the Philippines.The two sides have also differed on foreign policy. Marcos has expanded defence ties with the United States as his administration has pushed back against China's increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea. Duterte, meanwhile, has faced criticism for not condemning China's actions, including the use of powerful water cannons against Filipino forces and fishermen. The bail order on Saturday came as her legal and political battles with the Marcos administration continued to deepen.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 5, 2026 13:00 IST