QC Prosecutors Office subpoenas ex-Pres. Duterte over Castro's grave threat complaint

The Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City issued a subpoena to former President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, ordering him to personally submit his answer to the grave threat complaint filed against him by House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list France Castro.

The one-page subpoena, issued by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Ulric Badiola, ordered Duterte to submit his counter affidavit on December 4 and 11, both at 2:30 p.m.

“Under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Revised Charter of Quezon City and other existing laws, respondent [Duterte] is hereby commanded to appear before the Office of the City Prosecutor, Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma Building (Department of Justice), Elliptical Road, Quezon City,” the subpoena read.

The subpoena also provided that Duterte, during the same dates, should also submit affidavit/s of his witnesses and supporting documents, if any.

“The counter-affidavit, together with the annexes and the affidavits of witness/es, should be in eight copies and should be subscribed and sworn to before me,” the subpoena added.

Likewise, the subpoena states that the affiant/s should also submit a photocopy of their government-issued identification card as proof of their identity.

Castro has accused Duterte of grave threat based on Duterte's television interview in SMNI wherein he said:

"Kayong mga komunista ang gusto kong patayin (It's you communists whom I want to kill)" and “Sabi ko sa kanya [his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte],  magprangka ka na lang. Itong intelligence fund na ito gagamitin ko para sa utak ng mga Pilipino kasi ito ang target ko, kayong mga komunista andiyan sa Congress. Prangkahin mo na 'yan si France Castro (I told her, be frank. [Say] I will use this intelligence fund for the mental development of Filipinos because my targets are the communists there in Congress. Be frank with France Castro)."

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.

The same subpoena also tasked the complainant Castro and her witnesses, if any, to reaffirm the veracity and truthfulness of the allegations in their given statement before Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Badiola.

Badiola also reminded parties that no motion to dismiss will be entertained and only counter-affidavits will be admitted.

“Otherwise, respondents is/are deemed to have waived the right to present evidence,” the subpoena said.

“Furthermore, no postponement will be granted unless for exceptionally meritorious grounds. Wherefore, fail not at your peril,” the subpoena added.

GMA News Online has reached out to Duterte's camp for comment, but it has yet to reply as of posting time. 

Duterte's son, Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte, last month said Castro should not be "onion-skinned" over the remarks made by the former president. 

“We all have the right to file a complaint against anyone in court. But public servants should not be onion-skinned and should not make use of this right as a tool to silence critics. The former president has received much harsher and humiliating criticisms in the past but never filed a case against anyone,” the Davao lawmaker said.

“As public servants, we all are under scrutiny by the Filipino people. If the former president has said something that threatened her, then maybe she should come out clean. Di 'yung nagtatago tayo sa likod ng so-called right na ito. Tigilan na lang natin ang kadramahan at pagpapa-media,” he added.

(We should not hide under these supposed rights. Let’s drop the drama and making a scene.)

In response, Castro stressed that the camp of the former president should face charges squarely rather than put the blame on others.

“Bakit parang ako pa ang may kasalanan, samantalang buhay ko ang pinagbantaan at muling ni-redtag? I filed a grave threats case against former President Rodrigo Duterte because I am protecting myself, my family, and my colleagues. It is far different from criticisms and should not be tolerated because it fosters the state of impunity,” she said in a separate statement.

(Why is it as if I am the one at fault when it is my life which is being threatened here?)

“Besides, the onion skin doctrine even in libel cases does not give license to anyone to issue death threats. Legitimate criticism of public officials is valid but criticism is different from death threat. What Duterte did was not criticism, but threats. They used to say that people should file charges if they feel aggrieved by them, but why are they attacking the victim now?” Castro added. —VAL, GMA Integrated News