Impunity dissolving around VP, says international human rights group
Media Statement
September 8, 2026
“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) welcomes the long overdue charging of Vice President Duterte for her 2024 threats to kill political opponents. This is another important step towards ending the culture of impunity which is rampant in Filipino society,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.
On September 4, a Quezon City court issued a warrant of arrest against Duterte. The Vice-President faced court on September 5, failed in her bid to have the warrant of arrest withdrawn or delayed, and instead paid bail (US$1,915 on each charge), was fingerprinted and then released. This development came almost two years after Vice President Sara Duterte’s brazen statement during a live press conference.
VP Duterte is also charged over these alleged grave threats in the ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate. There, the penalty, if found guilty, would be blockage in the 2028 presidential election. In a criminal trial, a guilty verdict would mean up to six months imprisonment on each of the three charges of grave threat.
“While it remains to be seen if she will be convicted of the crime, there is no doubt that effective legal accountability for Sara Duterte is vital to democracy in the Philippines,” added Murphy.
Her November 2024 outburst was after midnight and outside a detention facility at the House of Representatives, where her Chief of Staff, Ms Zuleika Lopez, was being held for contempt. Lopez had written to the Commission of Audit to tell them not to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability. This committee was investigating the spending of discretionary and intelligence funds by Sara Duterte as Secretary of the Department of Education and as Vice-President. The total under investigation was P612.5 million (US$9.77 million).
Whether the Vice-President was infuriated or rattled by the sudden detention of her Chief of Staff, she reacted with death threats against those she believed were behind this detention.
At the impeachment trial, the prosecution has slowly unraveled the story of those P612.5 million in relation to the charge of misuse, misappropriation and irregular liquidation of public funds. Only Sara Duterte and a Colonel Raymund Lachica know how the P500 million of her funds as Vice-President were spent, and Gina Acosta and Edward Fajarda were given the P112.5 million in cash to disburse. The Commission on Audit had directed that P200 million of these funds not be disbursed, and none of the spending was documented according to law.
But Marcos Jr himself deserves condemnation for enabling the crimes of Sara Duterte. Prior to the bitter breakup of their dynastic team up in 2024, Duterte and Marcos Jr formed the so-called “Uniteam” alliance for the 2022 Philippine elections, where they won the two highest posts in the government.
“Just as the International Criminal Court trial of former President Rodrigo Duterte – set to open on November 30 – is a warning to incumbent President Marcos Jr and other senior officials, the impeachment in the Senate and now these criminal charges against Sara Duterte are also a warning to the Marcos family that they are not immune from accountability for their own alleged plunder and violations of human rights,” concluded Murphy.
