On Wednesday, the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office served former President Rodrigo Duterte with a subpoena demanding his presence to deliver a personal response to the grave threat charge levied by Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Representative France Castro.
Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Ulric Badiola mandated the submission of Duterte’s counter-affidavit on both December 4 and 11 at 2:30 p.m., as per the one-page legal document.
“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 mandated that Duterte must also produce any witness statements and relevant documentation within the same period.
“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.
Court summons Ex-President Duterte over grave threat complaint
“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 justified the allocation of P650 million in confidential funds to the Vice President’s Office and P150 million to the Department of Education, both led by his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, following the House’s choice to redistribute the P123 billion from the 2024 national budget’s confidential funds.
The subpoena required Castro, the complainant, and any witnesses to confirm the accuracy of their claims in the presence of Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Badiola.
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