MANILA, Philippines — Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte has urged ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro to be as passionate in defending farmers and people killed by the communist rebel group New People’s Army (NPA) after Castro filed a grave threat complaint against his father.
“It is imperative upon me to stand by my family and protect my family. I think anyone would do that. That’s where I’m coming from. You filed a case. Let the court look at the merits. Simple as that. Gaya ng sinabi ko, it is your right. But I’ve heard worse,” Duterte said in a statement on Thursday.
“I just wish that your passion to sensationalize this further is the same as your passion to protect the farmers and innocent victims who were killed by the NPA,” he added.
But Castro believes that the Dutertes are just being evasive, claiming that the children of former President Rodrigo Duterte, both Rep. Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte, have refrained from addressing issues hurled at them.
“It seems there is a pattern within the Duterte family when they are asked to explain things to the public. When VP Sara Duterte was asked how she spent the P125 million illegal confidential funds, she only said that those who question these are against peace and enemies of the state,” she said in Filipino.
“When Congress removed the confidential funds of VP Duterte and former president Rodrigo Duterte was asked about this, he said this was meant to kill communists and even threatened to kill me. When it was Rep. Paolo Duterte’s turn to comment on why I filed cases, he said that I should not make a drama out of this and now condemn the killings done by the NPA,” she added.
According to Castro, these incidents show that the Dutertes do not want to directly respond to issues, supposedly diverting discussions to other accusations.
“With this pattern, we can see that it seems the Dutertes do not want to answer the issues asked of them, and instead, they resort to gaslighting or red-tagging or blaming the victims,” she claimed.
Castro on Tuesday filed complaints against former president Duterte for alleged violation of Article 282 (Grave Threat) under the Revised Penal Code (RPC), and Section 6 (crimes under RPC) of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, regarding the ex-president’s statements over national television.
READ: Rep. Castro sues ex-president Duterte over death threat
Castro was referring to the ex-leader’s statements over a Sonshine Media Network International program, where he advised Vice President Duterte just to be frank about where the confidential funds (CF) would be used — to allegedly kill communists like Castro.
“I told Inday (Sara), be direct, tell them that the intelligence fund is meant to prepare the minds of the Filipinos, to address the insurgency that is taking a long time to end. And the ROTC so that we are prepared for war, especially in this situation, if we do not have soldiers, then we will have the youth who can take care of their respective barangays,” former president Duterte said.
“But your first target there, using your intelligence funds, is you, France, you communists who I want to kill. I asked her to tell them that, but she refused, saying that ‘You know, Pa, if I did that, they might harass the PMT [Philippine Military Training centers],” he added.
Duterte’s interview came after the House removed the proposed CF for 2024 of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), worth P500 million and P150 million.
Vice President Duterte heads both OVP and DepEd, while Castro was one of the lawmakers who advocated for removing the CF within the two agencies.
READ: House gives zero confidential funds to OVP, DepEd, DICT, DFA, DA
After Castro filed complaints against his father, Rep. Duterte urged public officials not to be onion-skinned, noting that the ex-president has received harsher threats but refrained from filing cases.
Castro meanwhile questioned Rep. Duterte’s reasoning, saying that it is not her fault that she wants to protect herself.
READ: A reality check for Duterte