Photo: Vice President Sara Duterte / Facebook

MANILA, Philippines – Assault charges filed by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) against Vice President Sara Duterte have been junked by the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office. 

Last year, QCPD accused Duterte, her head of security and others of Direct Assault, Disobedience to Authority, and Grave Coercion in  connection to the controversial hospital transfer of her top aide Atty. Zuleika Lopez, then detained at the House of Representatives. 

In a decision penned on January 17, the Office of the City Prosecutor dismissed the case for “failure to sustain a finding of prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.” 

This is in view of a Department of Justice circular that increases the quantity of evidence for preliminary investigation from probable cause to prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction. 

In this case, the OCP said the quantum of evidence was not reached because the “evidence at hand vis-a-vis the defenses raised are insufficient to establish all the elements of the crimes charged and to warrant a conviction beyond reasonable doubt.” 

Lopez, after being charged in contempt reportedly fell ill after being told that she was being transferred to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City during the height of the House inquiry into the Office of the Vice President’s fund use.  

Despite the dismissal of one complaint, Duterte is still facing multiple legal battles including three impeachment complaints.