DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 Nov)—The City Prosecutor’s Office in Quezon City has summoned former President Rodrigo R. Duterte to attend the preliminary investigation on the complaint filed against him by ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro for grave threats.
The former President has been directed to “appear before the Office of the City Prosecutor, Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma Building (Department of Justice), Elliptical Road, Quezon City” at 2:30 p.m. on December 4 and 11.
The former President was also ordered to submit his counter-affidavits, including the affidavits of his witnesses.
Castro filed on October 24 a complaint against Duterte for alleged grave threats under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code and Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Article 282 punishes “any person who shall threaten another with the infliction upon the person, honor or property of the latter or of his family of any wrong amounting to a crime.”
Meanwhile, Section 6 imposes a harsher penalty if the alleged crime is committed “through and with the use of information and communications technologies.”
During his program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” over Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI News) on October 10, Duterte said that Castro would be the “first target” of the confidential fund of his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, who heads the Department of Education in concurrent capacity, as he defended the necessity of these funds in the operation of his daughter’s offices.
Last October 5, Davao City’s 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte said Castro should not be “onion-skinned” as a public servant.
He claimed that his father received much harsher criticisms during his six-year-term as President but did not file a case against his critics.
“As public servants, we all are under scrutiny by the Filipino people,” he said.
“Di yung nagtatago tayo sa likod ng so-called right na ito. As a congressman myself, madami din akong alam sa maka-kaliwang mga partylist representatives. Tigilan na lang natin ang kadramahan at pagpapa-media (Let’s not hide behind this so-called right. As a congressman myself, I also know a lot about the leftist partylist representatives. Let’s just stop the drama and media attention),” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
