Duterte no-show at QC prosecutor's office

FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte failed to show up on Monday for the preliminary investigation before the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office of a complaint filed against him by a militant lawmaker.

Duterte's two female lawyers, who appeared before Senior Assistant Prosecutor Ulric Badiola, said the former president declined to attend because they have not yet received any formal communication or specifically a subpoena from the prosecutor's office.

As a result, Badiola personally handed them the resolution he issued prior to Monday's preliminary investigation as well as the complaint that ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro filed against the father of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.

The prosecutor then set the next preliminary hearing on Dec. 15, 2023, at 2:30 p.m.

Accompanied by her counsel, Castro said they also filed a supplemental complaint against him [Rodrigo Duterte] for his «continued grave threats against me.»

Asked by The Manila Times if she was the one being referred to by the former president when the latter mentioned «France» in various instances, Castro said she could substantiate her allegations.

«I am very sure that I am the one being threatened by the former president, and we have clearly cited [proofs] in my complaint,» the lawmaker said.

Castro has accused the former president of grave threats in relation to Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act following his statements last October in a program on SMNI.

The party-list lawmaker said Duterte's statements «gravely threatened my life, liberty, and security and that of my family.»

Duterte said in the television program, «I told her (daughter VP Sara) to be frank. Say that this intelligence fund, I will use for Filipinos' minds because my target is you communists in Congress.»

Castro also told this newspaper that she was hopeful that the former chief executive would face the charges and participate in the preliminary investigation.

Duterte was protected from prosecution when he was president, but now that he is an ordinary citizen, he can be charged for alleged crimes committed in the Philippines, said a group allied with Castro.

Members of the group were brandishing placards