Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte posted bail on Saturday after a court in Quezon City, near Manila, issued an arrest warrant the previous day on charges that she publicly threatened to arrange the assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife, and a third person.

Duterte, 48, paid 360,000 pesos in bail — equivalent to approximately $5,740, or roughly $1,900 per charge — for three counts of grave threats. One source placed the total bail figure at $5,740, while another reported it as $1,900 per charge; both figures correspond to the same total across three counts.

Emerging from Quezon City Regional Trial Court in a black outfit, Duterte consoled supporters gathered outside, hugging a woman who was sobbing as the crowd chanted her name. She showed reporters a court order lifting the arrest warrant and said her lawyers had instructed her to keep a copy on hand at all times.

She urged journalists to accompany her to her car, saying she did not feel safe.

"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," Duterte said. "What does this administration really want to do with me?"

Her attorney, Paul Lawrence Lim, confirmed that court staff took Duterte's fingerprints and that she had posted bail. He said she would continue to contest the charges.

"She has no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies," Lim said in a statement.

A justice department spokesman confirmed the warrant, rejecting her legal team's argument that she cannot be prosecuted while the same conduct is being examined in her ongoing impeachment trial.

The charges stem from remarks Duterte made during an online news conference in November 2024. She said she had arranged for a hitman to kill Marcos, his wife, and his cousin, Martin Romualdez, who was then Speaker of the House of Representatives, if she herself were killed as their political disputes escalated. She warned at the time that her statement was not a joke.

Duterte later said she had only been expressing concern for her own safety and had not intended the remarks as a genuine threat.

The criminal case carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail. However, the political consequences could be far more severe. A conviction may permanently disqualify her from holding public office and would end her reported ambitions to seek the presidency in 2028, when Marcos's six-year term concludes.

The charges are also central to an impeachment trial under way in the Philippine Senate, which is acting as an impeachment court. The House of Representatives, dominated by Marcos allies, voted overwhelmingly in May to impeach Duterte on allegations that include unexplained wealth, misuse of confidential state funds, and the threats made during the 2024 news conference. The Senate hearing, in which Duterte denies any wrongdoing, opened in July and has been running for nine weeks.

Marcos and Duterte were running mates in the 2022 elections, an alliance that combined two of the country's most prominent political dynasties. Their partnership has since collapsed into open hostility.

Marcos is the son of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who ruled the Philippines from the 1960s to the 1980s, a period that included martial law and widespread repression. Sara Duterte is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos's immediate predecessor.

Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in 2025 on an International Criminal Court warrant and is currently detained in The Hague, where he is scheduled to stand trial in late November on charges of crimes against humanity linked to a violent anti-drugs campaign that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead. Estimates of the death toll vary, with some accounts placing it in the tens of thousands. He has denied authorizing extrajudicial killings but repeatedly threatened suspects with death while in office.

Sara Duterte has previously criticized the Marcos administration for surrendering her father to a foreign court. The Philippines currently does not recognize the court's jurisdiction.

The two leaders also hold contrasting geopolitical positions. Marcos has deepened defense ties with the United States and has taken a firm stance against China's increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea. Duterte has drawn criticism for failing to condemn Chinese actions against Filipino forces and fishermen in the disputed waters, including the use of water cannons.