Charges of unlawful utterances and inciting to sedition were filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday, Feb. 17, against former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The charges were filed by Brig. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III, chief of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

Unlawful utterances is a violation under Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), while inciting to sedition is a crime under Article 142 of the RPC.

Torre explained that the charges stemmed from the statements by Duterte during the proclamation rally of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) held last Thursday, Feb. 13.

During the rally, Duterte said there were too many senatorial candidates and jokingly suggested “let’s kill the senators now to create vacancies.”

“Gusto niyang patayin yung 15 senador na gusto niyang bumbahin (Duterte wanted to kill the 15 senators by bombing them),” said Torre.

Torre stressed: “Hindi na pwede yung ganong mga statements na kinaumagahan ay joke only na lang (we just can no longer take such statements that later on will be branded as a joke only).”

He said he filed the case in his capacity as a police official. and in consonance with DOJ Circular No. 20 issued in 2023 by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla.

He also said the filing of the charges "is part of the PNP's mandate to make sure that we protect the citizenry from criminal activities like this."

Torre said the DOJ, together with the PNP, will conduct a case build-up on the charges before deciding whether a panel of prosecutors will conduct a preliminary investigation to determine if charges will be filed in court.