DAVAO CITY - A Filipino congresswoman has accused former president Rodrigo Duterte of threatening to kill her for a second time.
House of Representatives Deputy Minority Leader France Castro
made the allegation in a “supplemental” criminal complaint filed with
prosecutors in Manila.
Castro and Duterte had been subpoenaed to appear at the
prosecutor’s office to present witnesses and supporting documents relating to
the congresswoman’s first complaint filed on October 24.
Castro has alleged Duterte made “grave threats” against her
during an October 10 interview with local broadcaster SMNI, violating the
Cybercrime Prevention Act.
She alleged that Duterte had threatened her life again in an
interview with the same broadcaster on November 16.
In a transcript of that interview filed to the prosecutor,
Duterte talked about communist rebels who are fighting a decades-old
insurgency. “So you, France, how do you solve the problem now? So that’s my
statement, communists should be killed, you should be included,” he said.
Duterte did not appear at the prosecutor’s office but two of
his lawyers were there, Castro told reporters.
There was no immediate comment from Duterte or his legal
representatives about Castro’s latest allegation. His former chief presidential
legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Duterte had not received a subpoena to
attend December 4’s preliminary investigation.
The prosecutor will decide if there is enough evidence to
charge Duterte in court.
Duterte was protected from prosecution when he was president
but can be charged for alleged crimes committed in the Philippines now that he
is a private citizen. Duterte often threatened to kill people when he was
president from 2016 to 2022.
He also frequently labelled critics as communist sympathizers
– a practice known as “red-tagging”, which sometimes resulted in the arrest,
detention or even death of the person targeted. (AFP)
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