ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. France L. Castro on Monday, Feb. 5, asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reverse the ruling of the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office which dismissed the grave threats complaint she filed against former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
In a petition for review, Castro told the DOJ that "the dismissal of the Complaint-Affidavit against Duterte by the Office of the City Prosecutor sets a precedent of selectively interpreting statements, potentially extending protection to public figures who make violent remarks or casually red-tag others in mass media."
“This undermines efforts to address online threats, contributes to normalizing violent rhetoric, and erodes public trust in the legal system's ability to handle explicit threats from those in power, effectively deterring dissent,” she said.
In her complaint,Castro accused Duterte of having committed grave threats as penalized under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and for violating Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Castro’s complaint stemmed from Duterte’s statements made on Oct. 11, 2023 and on Nov. 16, 2023 on his “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” program over Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).
Duterte made the statements amid the 2024 budget deliberations at the House of Representatives last year where legislators questioned the P125 million in confidential funds that was granted to his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, in 2022.
Among other things, Duterte said on Oct. 11, 2023: “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, the former President 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).”
In its resolution dismissing the complaint, the Office of the City Prosecutor (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.”
But Castro said: “The OCP relied on what ‘appears’ and not on the clear facts as basis of the Assailed Resolution. They had claimed that the respondent’s statements were merely ‘sarcastic advice or suggestion or an opinion’ and that ‘public pronouncement of death threats’ is downright unusual and ridiculous to even be considered as something serious and deliberate when it is clear that the respondent has a track record of publicly announcing violent endeavors before, during and after his presidency."