FACT-CHECK: Court lifted Sara Duterte arrest warrant after bail, but grave threats case continues

CLAIM: The lifting of the arrest warrant against Vice President Sara Duterte meant she had been cleared of the grave threats case against her.

RATING: MISSING CONTEXT

A Facebook post claiming that Vice President Sara Duterte was “free now” after a court lifted her arrest warrant left out a crucial fact: the warrant was lifted because she posted bail, not because the grave threats case against her was dismissed.

Flagged content: A Facebook user posted an image of Duterte accompanied by security personnel with the superimposed text: “Binawi na ng Korte ang Arrest Warrant kay Inday. She is free now.” [sic] (“The court has withdrawn Inday’s arrest warrant. She is free now.”)

User “Shanley Valdez” posted the image in the Facebook group “Tagalog vs Bisaya ONLINE RAMBULAN,” along with a caption mocking Tagalogs and expressing support for Duterte.

Our debunk: The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98 did lift Duterte’s arrest warrant on Sept. 5, but only after she posted bail for three counts of grave threats. The lifting of the warrant did not dismiss the criminal charges against her.

The court had issued the warrant a day earlier, on Sept. 4, after finding probable cause to hold Duterte for trial. It also denied her motion to defer or recall the warrant and quash the information against her. Bail was set at P120,000 for each count, or P360,000 in total.
Duterte appeared before the Quezon City court on Sept. 5 and posted bail. The court subsequently ordered the warrant lifted. Her grave threats case, however, remains pending.
Duterte’s camp has also asked the Supreme Court to stop the proceedings, arguing that the Department of Justice and the trial court did not have jurisdiction to prosecute her, given her status as an impeachable officer.

Rewind: The charges stem from Duterte’s remarks during a Nov. 23, 2024 online news conference in which she said she had instructed a person to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she herself were killed.

Duterte has maintained that her remarks were taken out of context and did not constitute a threat.
The remarks also form part of the allegations in the impeachment case against her.

Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post could mislead readers into believing that the lifting of Duterte’s arrest warrant meant that the charges against her had been dropped.

As of the time of writing, the post had received 492 reactions, 246 comments and three shares.

Spot the fake: Court terminology can easily be taken out of context. The lifting or recall of an arrest warrant does not necessarily mean that the criminal case behind it has been dismissed.

Before sharing claims about court proceedings, check the actual court action and reports from credible news organizations.
In this case, Duterte’s warrant was lifted because she had posted bail, while the grave threats charges remained pending. Hurt Allauigan

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