By Junex Doronio

SAYING HE WOULD RATHER GO TO JAIL than submit his counter affidavit on grave threat complaint, former President Rodrigo Duterte has tagged again complainant ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro of having communist links.

The feisty former president made the statement a day after the Office of the City Prosecutor of QC issued a subpoena to Duterte, ordering him to personally submit his answer to the death threats complaint filed against him by Castro.

“Si France, party-list ‘yan, Act. They are the Left who are the members of the Communist Party of the Philippines. They joined the mainstream…mga rebel ‘yan eh. Gusto nila sirain ang Pilipinas,” Duterte said in an SMNI interview on early Thursday, November 16.

He was responding to a query seeking his comment on the subpoena issued on Wednesday, November 15,

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.

Asked if he will comply with the subpoena, Duterte, himself a former prosecutor, said: “Magpakulong na lang ako. Gina-oppress ako ni France”.

He stressed: “Magpakulong ako, paglabas ko hanapin…Alam mo nakikinig lahat ng military, intelligence community. Akala mo happy yan sila?”

In October, Castro has accused Duterte of grave threat based on Duterte’s television interview in SMNI owned by Duterte’s friend Pastor Apollo Quibuloy wherein he said: “Kayong mga komunista ang gusto kong patayin (It’s you communists whom I want to kill)”.

Duterte went on: “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.”

Duterte made the remark as he vigorously defended the P650-million confidential funds requested by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P150 million to the Department of Education (DepEd) in the 2024national budget.

Both offices are headed by his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.

Earlier, the House of Representatives led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez decided to realign the P1.23 billion confidential and Intelligence funds (CIF) under the proposed 2024 national budget to the agencies tasked to safeguard the country’s security and sovereignty.

Duterte explained that his daughter VP Sara intended to utilize the CIF for preparatory military training (PMT) program for high school students for the proposed reinstatement of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in tertiary education.

VP Sara’s popularity rating in recent surveys notably plunged due to public uproar over the P125-million CIF that she allegedly spent in just 11 days in 2022.

(ai/mnm)