Australian Sister Patricia Fox, who was forced to leave the Philippines during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, has welcomed an arrest warrant for his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
Fox of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion congregation and spokesperson of the Asia Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, said the warrant was a positive step but called for broader accountability over allegations involving the vice president.
“The arrest warrant is a positive development, but justice cannot stop at grave threats. Sara Duterte must also be investigated for allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds, which are manifestations of bureaucrat capitalism, as well as for her administration’s and political machinery’s role in human rights violations,” Fox said.
A court in Quezon City issued the warrant Friday after Duterte was charged last month with “grave threats” stemming from remarks in which she said she had hired a hitman to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife and a former congressman cousin if she were killed first.
The alleged threat is also a key element of Duterte’s impeachment trial before the Senate. A guilty verdict would remove her from office and permanently bar her from politics.
Fox, an Australian Catholic missionary who spent nearly three decades in the Philippines, became the subject of an immigration case in 2018 after Rodrigo Duterte accused her of interfering in Philippine politics.
Duterte publicly criticized the nun and ordered authorities to investigate her immigration status. Immigration authorities later pursued deportation proceedings against her, and Fox left the Philippines in November 2018 after months of legal challenges over her right to remain in the country.
Eight years later, Fox said there should be no political accommodation in the case involving Duterte’s daughter.
“Accountability must reach those who wield state power and use it against the Filipino people. There must be no special treatment for the Duterte family, and no political accommodation at the expense of justice,” she said.
Justice department spokesman Polo Martinez confirmed that the warrant had been issued after the Quezon City court rejected a motion to defer it.
Duterte’s legal team said she had “no intention of evading the law and will continue to exercise all her legal remedies.”
Paolo Tamase, associate dean at the University of the Philippines College of Law, told Agence France-Presse that Duterte could seek bail before the regional trial court and challenge the warrant before a higher court.
“The easiest thing for VP Sara to do is to file for bail with the regional trial court,” Tamase said, noting that Duterte would likely not need to appear personally.
“She can potentially question the issuance of the warrant of arrest, which means she would go up to the Court of Appeals or potentially the Supreme Court,” he said.
Under Philippine law, a criminal conviction for grave threats carries a jail term of up to six months.
Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives in May on charges that also included graft and corruption. Her Senate impeachment trial recently concluded its ninth week. She announced in February that she planned to run for president in 2028.
Fox also directed criticism at the Marcos administration, saying the push for accountability should not be confined to the Duterte family.
“While we urge the Philippine government to continue its efforts to hold Sara Duterte accountable, we must also hold Ferdinand Marcos Jr. accountable as the chief architect and enabler of the impunity and rotten system that perpetuates corruption, bureaucratic capitalism, and human rights violations,” Fox said. – with reports from Agence France-Presse
