Davao City Ist District Representative Paolo Duterte (File photo from Davao City Information Office)
MANILA, Philippines — Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte urges public officials to refrain from being onion-skinned.
His call comes after fellow lawmaker ACT Teachers Representative France Castro filed a legal case against his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
In a statement on Wednesday, the younger Duterte said while he understands that it is the right of people to sue others, filing charges should not be used to shut critics off.
Representative Duterte explained his father had received harsher recriminations, but the former president did not file any complaints, supposedly out of respect for free speech.
READ: Rep. Castro sues ex-president Duterte over death threat
READ: Duterte to Sara: Say secret funds to be used vs ‘communists in Congress’
“We all have the right to file a complaint against anyone in court,” the lawmaker said.
“But public servants should not be onion-skinned and should not make use of this right as a tool to silence critics,” he stressed.
“The former President has received much harsher and humiliating criticisms in the past, but never filed a case against anyone,” recalled the member of the House of Representatives.
“As public servants, we all are under scrutiny by the Filipino people,” he added.
Castro, on Tuesday morning, filed complaints against the former president.
The cases are grave threat and violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 for the ex-president’s statements over national television.
Castro was referring to Duterte’s interview with Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).
The former commander in chief had said he advised his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, to be frank about what she intended to do with the proposed confidential funds (CF) under her office — to kill communists like Castro supposedly.
His remarks came after the House removed the proposed CF for 2024 of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd), worth P500 million and P150 million.