DAVAO CITY, Philippines – House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro is dismayed over the Quezon City Prosecutor’s dismissal of her complaint against former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Prosecutor’s Office on January 12 dismissed the complaint of grave threats filed by Castro against Duterte, saying there is a lack of sufficient evidence.
Castro said Duterte threatened to kill her during his show “Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa” last October on the broadcast network Sonshine Media Network. Duterte’s show was suspended by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in December because of the airing of such threats.
The former president was defending the confidential funds of his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, then said “Pero ang una mong target d’yan [sa] intelligence fund mo, kayo, ikaw France, kayong mga Komunista ang gusto kong patayin.” (But you are my first target on the intelligence fund. You, France, and the other communists, I want to kill you.)
Castro and her Makabayan bloc raised critical points against the confidential funds of the vice president which prompted Congress to reallocate the funds.
Dutete did not show up during the prosecutor’s preliminary investigation but issued statements that said his statements on the show were not an actual utterance of threat and were not to be taken seriously.
The Quezon City Prosecutor’s resolution, signed by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Ulric Badiola and approved by Deputy City Prosecutor Leilia Llanes wrote:
“This Office finds the evidence insufficient to indict respondent for Grave Threats inasmuch as the requisite 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 resolution added that Duterte uttered many points during the program, “interjecting sarcastic jokes in between and using terms in jest and in banter with the program host Apollo Quiboloy, only indicates that he is not that serious enough to really execute and materialize the threats allegedly conceived in his mind.”
Castro said her office has yet to receive a copy of the resolution, and will consult with lawyers on their next move.
“Dismayado ako sa sinasabing pagbasura ng kasong grave threats na isinampa ko laban kay dating Pang. Rodrigo Duterte dahil di nito kinilala ang takot na dinala nito sa akin at sa aking pamilya. Para din nitong pinagkait ang katarungan sa akin,” Castro said in a statement.
(I am dismayed by the dismissal of the case of grave threats that I filed against former President Rodrigo Duterte, because this did not affirm the fear it brought on me and my family. It seems I have been denied the justice I seek.)
Castro and members of the Makabayan bloc have been frequently attacked and red-tagged by Duterte during his presidency for their opposition to his policies, including counter-insurgency, the war on drugs, and human rights issues.
The teacher’s representative said during her filing of the complaint last October 24, that she cannot dismiss the threat.
READ: Dutertes defend (and attack) amid controversies
“I cannot merely dismiss Respondent Duterte’s red-tagging and accompanying grave threats as either figurative, joking, or otherwise benign considering that many victims of extrajudicial killings, illegal arrest and detentions, excommunicado confinements, forced disappearances and other analogous attacks were called or labeled ‘communists,’ members or supporters of the NPA, “terrorists,” and like labels before they were attacked,” Castro said. (davaotoday.com)
ACT Teachers, France Castro, grave threat, Makabayan bloc, rodrigo duterte
