Arrest warrant issued for Philippine Vice President Serra Duterte on suspicion of making threats

(Hanoi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = A court has issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Serra Duterte, the most influential candidate for the next Philippine presidential election and a rival to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

According to Reuters and AFP on the 5th (local time), the day before, a Philippine court issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Duterte, who was indicted on three counts of 'serious threats', and set bail for a total of 360,000 Philippine pesos (about 7.75 million won).

He is accused of threatening President Marcos and others by revealing that he had ordered his bodyguards to kill him if he were assassinated in November 2024.

At the time, Vice President Duterte said, "If I am killed, I told them to kill BBM (President Marcos' initials), Liza Araneta (First Lady), and Martin Romualdez (President Marcos' cousin and then Speaker of the House of Representatives). It's not a joke."

If found guilty, he could not only face up to six months in prison, but he could also be kicked out of the vice presidency, and his plans to run for president in 2028 may be disrupted.

This charge was included as one of the main charges in the impeachment bill against Vice President Duterte that passed the House of Representatives in May.

In addition to making assassination threats, he is also accused of misappropriating public funds while serving as Vice President and Minister of Education.

The Senate, which received the impeachment bill, is conducting a final impeachment trial. If more than two-thirds of the 24 senators vote for impeachment, Vice President Duterte will be dismissed and will be barred from holding public office for life.

However, AFP reported that it appears unlikely that Vice President Duterte will actually be detained due to this warrant.

He is likely to apply for bail and may file an objection to the validity of the warrant in a higher court.

Vice President Duterte's lawyers issued a statement saying, "He has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all legal remedies."

In the 2022 presidential election, Vice President Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, was elected as President Marcos' running mate, forming a strong political alliance between the Marcos family and the Duterte family.

However, unlike former President Duterte, who was pro-China, the Marcos government clashed head-on with China over the sovereignty of the South China Sea and took a pro-American line. After the two sides continued to clash over the constitutional amendment issue and the southern Mindanao Island issue, the two completely split and became rivals.