The Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed the grave threats complaint filed against former President Rodrigo R. Duterte by ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. France L. Castro.
“After a careful and judicious evaluation of the allegations and evidence obtaining in the complaint, the undersigned finds the same to be insufficient to indict respondent for the crime charged against him,” Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Ulric Q. Badiola said in a resolution dated Jan 9, 2024.
Deputy City Prosecutor Leilia R. Llanes approved the resolution on recommendation made by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Rosanna Morales Montojo.
In her complaint, Castro accused Duterte of committing grave threats under Art. 282 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act (RA) No. 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Castro’s complaint stemmed from Duterte’s statements made on Oct. 11, 2023 and on Nov. 16, 2023 over his “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” program over Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).
The Office of the City Prosecutor (OCP) noted that Castro alleged that Duterte made the statements amid the 2024 budget deliberations at the House of Representatives last year where legislators questioned the “perceived to be the unauthorized grant” of P125 million of confidential funds in 2022 to his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte."
The resolution noted former President Duterte's remarks, to wit: “Sabi ko kay Kay Inday, diretsuhin mo na. Itong intelligence fund na ito is to prepare the minds of the Filipinos-itong insurgency na hindi matapos tapos-and the ROTC para prepared tayo. Kung magkagera gan’to ang sitwasyon ngayon, ‘pag wala tayong sundalo, meron tayong mga bata na who will take care of their respective barangay to help the government. Pero ang una mong target d’yan [sa] intelligence fund mo, kayo, ikaw France, kayong mga Komunista ang gusto kong patayin (I told Sara tell France directly. This intelligence fund is to prepare Filipinos for possible insurgency and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Should there be war, in the event we have no soldiers, there will be young people who will take care of the barangays to help the government. But your first target in the intelligence fund is Castro and the communists who I want to kill).”
In his Nov. 16, 2023 broadcast, then President Duterte said: “Do not think, France na you have already-na may armor ka na dahil congresswoman ka, member ka ng Congress, na hindi ka na–na your are no longer–na hindi ka na vulnerable sa galit ng-karami namatay dyan na sundalo pati pulis dahil sayo (Do not think, France, that you have the armor as a congressowman and no longer vulnerable because there are many people angry at you since many soldiers and policemen have died because of you).”
The OCP said that among the three kinds of grave threats under Art. 282 of the RPC, the grave threat referred to in the case is the one with “threatening another with another with the infliction upon the person’s honor or property or that of his/her family of any wrong amounting to a crime, the threat not being subject to a condition.”
However, the OCP said “the essential elements for the crime appears to have been not sufficiently and concretely established contrary to what the complainant wanted to impress upon this Office.”
“The way or the manner by which the respondent (Duterte) uttered/stated the subject threatening remarks/statements, on the assumption that they were uttered and accurately quoted and/or depicted by the complainant, most particularly the words/phrases used by the respondent in conveying his message, do not convincingly establish that indeed respondent was really to intimidate and to take seriously such threatening remarks/statements and that his purpose was to create in the mind of the complainant the belief that the alleged threats will be carried into effect,” the OCP said.
“If the intention of the respondent was really to intimidate and to take seriously such threatening remarks/statements and that his purpose was to create in the mind of the complainant the belief that the alleged threats will be carried into effect, he would not have taken so much prologues and would have just directly and immediately pronounce the threats conceived in his mind,” it added.
Though obviously angered by the attacks against his daughter over the confidential funds issue, the OCP said “there is no sufficient evidence that the respondent was bent on going after the attackers of his daughter.”
“Besides, the Office finds it quite unusual, if not ridiculous for a person to make a public pronouncement of death threats or perpetuate threatening remarks, utterances or statements if he is that serious and deliberate enough in actualizing or effectuating such threats conceived in his mind, especially so considering that such individual, like herein respondent, is already in an advance age and not anymore immune from criminal prosecution, as he is not anymore the incumbent president of the country,” the OCP pointed out.