THINKED TV

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro on Tuesday filed a complaint for grave threat against former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Castro, accompanied by her counsel Tony Laviña and Rico Domingo from Movement Against Disinformation (MAD), filed the complaint with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

“Na-shock talaga ako sa threat sa aking buhay ni former President Duterte. Tingin natin hinggil ito sa pagbusisi natin sa confidential funds na nagbunga ng pagtatanggal ng confidential funds ng iba’t ibang ahensiya,” Castro said.

“He lost his immunity. Hindi na siya makakapagtago. Dapat matigil na itong gawi ni dating Presidente Duterte. This has to stop,” she added.

During his interview on Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) earlier this month, the former president red-tagged the lawmaker and the rest of the Makabayan bloc, and said the first target of his daughter’s proposed secret funds should be Castro.

“Kayong mga komunista ang gusto kong patayin,” Duterte had said.

Duterte made the comment in defending the P650-million confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President and P150 million to the Department of Education, which are both headed by his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, after the House’s decision to realign the P1.23 billion confidential fund under the proposed 2024 national budget.

According to the complaint, Duterte may face a penalty of arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding P100,000 for his crime of grave threats in relation to RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

“Duterte’s grave threats, and the fact of their continued spread even until today, present dangers to my life, liberty, and security,” Castro said in the complaint.

“With that knowledge, I now live in constant fear that I will be a victim of such extrajudicial killing, forced disappearance, illegal arrest or detention that he repeatedly admitted having perpetrated in the past,” she added.

#ThinkedTV