Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 15) – Former President Rodrigo Duterte denied threatening the life of ACT-Teachers Rep. France Castro, after she lodged a grave threats complaint against him for statements made during his ‘Gikan sa Masa’ talk show wherein he allegedly wished death upon the lawmaker.
In an episode aired in October, Duterte red-tagged Castro and said: “Pero ang una mong target diyan sa intelligence fund mo, kayo, ikaw France, kayong mga komunista ang gusto kong patayin [The first target of the intelligence fund should be you France, you communists are the ones I want to kill.]”
READ: Castro files grave threat complaint vs ex-Pres. Duterte
In his counter-affidavit dated Dec. 11, but made public Dec. 15, he said it was not a threat: “Bear in mind that in the First Subject Episode, I was merely recounting the conversation I had with my daughter, Sara Z. Duterte (‘Inday Sara’), anent the proposed confidential funds of the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education.”
But, a month later on Nov. 16, Duterte continued his tirades against Castro even after she had filed a criminal complaint, and Quezon City prosecutors issued a subpoena against him.
This time around, Duterte said: “Kaya ikaw, France (Castro), how do you solve the problem now? Kaya ‘yong statement kong komunista patayin, kasali ka — dapat!”
[Translation: How do you solve the problem now, France? That’s why my statement to kill communists should include you!]
READ: Ex-President Duterte threatens Castro again after court summons
“Meanwhile, the remarks I uttered during the Second Subject Episode cannot also be reasonably interpreted as a ‘communicated intent to inflict physical or other harm’ on complainant Castro’s person,” Duterte said in his counter-affidavit.
He continued: “Notably absent in the phrase ‘yun komunista patayin, kasali ka, dapat [communists should be killed, including you]!’ is any word signifying my personal determination, inclination or capability.”
Citing 2022 Supreme Court (SC) case Garma V. People of the Philippines, Duterte – who is a lawyer – said it held that “actus reus” and “mens rea” must be present to sustain a conviction of grave threats. He claimed that his statements did not demonstrate either of the two.
According to SC, “actus reus is the actual speaking or uttering of the threats of, say, death or serious bodily harm” while mens rea is present when “the accused intends that the recipient of their words to feel intimidated by their words or that the accused intended the words to be taken seriously.”
Castro previously argued that Duterte’s threats were amplified by his administration’s bloody war on drugs which saw rampant human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and alleged illegal detention. She also said he held influence over military and police institutions.
In response, Duterte wrote: “I take strong exception to these malicious insinuations because aside from being clearly unsubstantiated and this bereft of any merit, it becomes reasonably apparent that the Complaint-Affidavit and the Supplemental Complaint-Affidavit were filed for propaganda purposes by staunch critics of my administration.”
He therefore asked the court to dismiss Castro’s complaint and supplemental affidavit as these supposedly failed to prove the elements of the crime charged were present or that he had intended to commit any crime.
The first preliminary investigation for Castro’s complaint took place on Dec. 4, which Duterte did not attend. The Quezon City prosecutor’s office scheduled the second investigation for Friday, Dec. 15 and gave his camp until Dec. 14 to issue its response.
Duterte’s legal counsel filed his counter-affidavit on Dec. 15 but the former president, again, opted not to appear personally before the prosecutors.
READ: Ex-pres. Duterte a no show at preliminary investigation for Castro’s grave threats complaint
