QC court junks Sara Duterte’s bid to inhibit judge

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City court has denied the Motion for Inhibition or Voluntary Recusal filed by Vice President Sara Duterte in her pending grave threats case.

In an order dated September 14, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98 rejected Duterte's plea for "utter lack of merit."

Duterte's legal team submitted the motion via electronic mail on September 10, alleging that the court showed "manifest partiality, bias, and favoritism."

The defense argued that the court assisted the prosecution in establishing probable cause by directing them to submit digital evidence omitted from the original filing.

The defense contended that the omission of digital evidence should have been fatal to the prosecution's case, asserting that the court should have determined probable cause solely based on the initial records and dismissed the charges immediately.