Former President Rodrigo Duterte is threatening members of Congress with harm, in particular a militant lawmaker, just so his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, can get confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for her offices, a former legislator said Friday.
Neri Colmenares, chairman of the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan) and Bayan Muna party-list, condemned Duterte’s death threat against ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro in a live television interview and said it “should not be ignored and must be called out.”
Duterte came to his daughters’ defense amid controversies over the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education’s requests for confidential funds in the 2024 national budget.
The former President, in the Sonshine TV interview on Tuesday, said the intelligence funds would be used against Castro, adding in Filipino: “But, the first target of your intelligence fund would be you, France, I want to kill all you communists.”
The left-leaning Makabayan “condemned in the strongest terms” the threat made by Duterte.
“Such a threat delivered on national television should not be ignored and must be called out. Duterte’s red tagging and threats to activists and the opposition must be stopped,” said Colmenares, the former party-list legislator.
“At the very least, what Duterte did is tantamount to grave threats, which is a crime committed by a person who shall threaten another with the infliction upon the person or of his family of any wrong amounting to a crime. This felony is already consummated as soon as the threats come to the knowledge of the person threatened (Parea vs. People, G.R. No. 181626, 30 May 2011),” added Colemenares, a human rights lawyer.
“Duterte is once again endangering the lives of people this time for questioning the illegal P125 million confidential funds of his daughter in 2022. He is truly allergic to transparency and accountability. Now, he is threatening Congress so that his daughter can get more confidential funds,” he said.
According to Colmenares, those threats also constitute a threat against progressive lawmakers and are attempts to stifle the exercise of freedom of expression.
“The public has the right to know where their public funds are spent,” he said.
Makabayan members have said they have been red-tagged by the government, especially during the Duterte administration.
Red-tagging is the labeling of individuals and groups as members or supporters of the communist insurgency, opening them to violent attacks by state agents often resulting in deaths.
For her part, Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas strongly condemned the Duterte’s threats.
“Threatening the lives of elected representatives is a blatant violation and a dangerous attack on the rights of individuals who are merely pushing for transparency and accountability in government spending,” said Brosas.
“We take his threats seriously, especially with his administration’s bloody legacy of extrajudicial killings and political persecution,” Brosas added.
Brosas said the former President no longer has immunity from prosecution, called on the authorities “to take these threats seriously,” and ensure the safety and security of all elected representatives.
“We will not be silenced by threats and intimidation. We will continue to advocate for government transparency and the abolition of confidential funds. We in the Makabayan bloc are also looking into possible legal actions against him,” she added.