Ex-President Duterte skips preliminary probe of grave threats case

ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro and former President Rodrigo Duterte (FILE PHOTOS)

MANILA, Philippines — The preliminary investigation of the complaint of grave threats filed by ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro against former President Rodrigo Duterte was reset to Dec. 15 after he failed to appear before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday.

Only his lawyers, Penrose Ann Valles and Kristia Lorraine Caringal, showed up and said they had yet to receive any complaint or subpoena against their client. They were later given a copy of Castro’s complaint affidavit and supplemental complaint affidavit against Duterte.

The lawmaker’s counsel, Rico Domingo, said they did not expect further delays, adding: “We’re not saying this is a delaying tactic, since what the lawyers said, we assume good faith there.”

“Now, under Rule 112 of the Revised Penal Code… they have 10 days to respond to the criminal complaint and the supplemental complaint. There will be no delays there, there won’t be another extension,” Domingo said.

Duterte had been asked to appear before the Quezon City prosecutor to submit his counter-affidavit in response to Castro’s complaint of grave threats based on the statements he made in his Oct. 11 “Gikan Sa Masa, Para sa Masa” program aired by Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).

He said that his daughter, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, should be frank about the purpose of the confidential funds she was seeking for 2024 for her office and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“But, the first target of your intelligence fund would be you, France, I want to kill all you communists,” the older Duterte added.

Castro was among the opposition lawmakers who had opposed the younger Duterte’s request for confidential funds because her office and DepEd did not have specific mandates directly related to defense and national security.

The lawmaker also filed a supplemental complaint-affidavit over the former president’s statements in the Nov. 16 episode of his program.

“The grave threat of the accused toward Congresswoman Castro was continuous. You may recall last Oct. 11, [Duterte] issued grave threats, and that was the subject matter of the [earlier] complaint-affidavit of congresswoman France Castro… The President continued his threats on Nov. 16, and that is what we captured here in the supplemental complaint-affidavit,” Domingo said.

In her supplemental complaint-affidavit, Castro said Duterte had “called out my name and in between the Red-taggings, made the following utterances which… grimly and unrelentingly threatened my life, liberty and security and that of my family.”

Domingo said the case against Duterte would be a “test of the prosecutorial system as well as the justice system.”

“We will see what will be the result of this case. This is what Congresswoman France Castro is fighting for and we are joining her in this cause,” he added.

Support

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and advocates from different sectors expressed their support for Castro on Monday with ACT Chair Vladimer Quetua saying that Duterte must be held accountable for his threatening statements.

“The culture of killing and violation of human rights that have pervaded under his administration must stop … This is not the type of society that should be used and normalized in the minds of the youth and citizens,” he said.

Quetua also urged the Department of Justice and the International Criminal Court to pursue “comprehensive investigations” into Duterte’s alleged crimes against the Filipino people, as he also demanded that the Marcos administration abolish SMNI and the government’s anti-communist task force.

—WITH A REPORT FROM JANE BAUTISTA