The Philippine Department of Justice (DoJ) said Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio does not enjoy immunity from suit, maintaining that such protection applies solely to the President under the country's laws and jurisprudence.

"The Vice-President in this particular case has no immunity from suit," Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida told a news briefing on Thursday, referring to the criminal case pending against Ms. Duterte before a Quezon City regional trial court.

The DoJ filed three counts of grave threats against Ms. Duterte over remarks she 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 then-Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez if she were killed.

Ms. Duterte has maintained that her remarks were not a genuine threat and were "maliciously taken out of logical context." She made the comments while opposing a House committee's order to transfer her chief of staff, Zuleika T. Lopez, from the chamber's detention facility to the Correctional Institution for Women. The committee was investigating Ms. Duterte's use of confidential funds.

The National Bureau of Investigation separately filed an inciting-to-sedition complaint over the same remarks in February 2025. The DoJ dismissed that complaint in August, saying prosecutors found no prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.

The grave-threat case, however, proceeded before the trial court. It is also among the grounds cited in the impeachment case against Ms. Duterte now pending before the Senate, meaning the November 2024 remarks are at issue in a criminal prosecution and in the impeachment proceedings at the same time.

Her camp challenged the criminal case through a motion to quash, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction because impeachable officials cannot be prosecuted in regular courts while in office. Her counsel, Paul Lawrence Lim, has argued that the Vice-President enjoys limited procedural immunity while serving in office. The motion put the immunity question before the court at the outset, seeking to stop the prosecution before any trial on the remarks themselves.

The trial court rejected the challenge and found probable cause to hold Ms. Duterte for trial on all three counts. It issued an arrest warrant on Sept. 4 and set bail at P120,000 for each count. Ms. Duterte posted P360,000 bail the following day.

"The Department of Justice is consistent that in the current law and legal system in the Philippines, the only one who has immunity from suit is our beloved President," Mr. Vida said.

The Supreme Court has recognized immunity from suit for a sitting President. In a 2010 ruling, the tribunal said presidential immunity "remains preserved under our system of government, albeit not expressly reserved in the present Constitution," adding that a president "may not be sued in any civil or criminal case" during his tenure.

While the 1987 Constitution lists both the President and the Vice-President among officials who may be impeached, it does not expressly provide for presidential immunity. The DoJ has maintained that the immunity recognized by jurisprudence extends only to the President. That distinction between the two offices underlies the disagreement between the DoJ and Ms. Duterte's lawyers over whether she can be prosecuted while in office.

Asked about Ms. Duterte's statement that she does not feel safe and does not trust the court, Mr. Vida said such concerns should not be dismissed.

"It is saddening, but it is proven by our law enforcement agencies that they are ready and will carry out their duties to secure not only our Vice-President, but all Filipinos," he said.

With the jurisdictional challenge rejected and bail posted, the grave-threat case moves toward trial in Quezon City, while the impeachment case remains pending before the Senate.

— Mark Joseph M. Sanchez, BusinessWorld