Criminal Complaint Filed Against Ex-President Duterte For ‘Threat’ To Assassinate Senators

By Jason Gutierrez

The Philippine National Police (PNP) filed a criminal complaint against former president Rodrigo Duterte over his alleged threat to kill incumbent senators, some of whom were campaigning under the ticket of his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Duterte made the remark on Thursday when he introduced senators he was campaigning for in the May midterm polls.

Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the former president allegedly violated laws against incitement to sedition and unlawful utterances. 

“I am filing this as a citizen. And you know, I’m a policeman. It’s part of the PNP to make sure that we protect the citizenry from criminal activities like this,” Torres told reporters on Monday, noting that Duterte has many “blind supporters” who could actually take him seriously.

He filed the complaint before the justice department and asked prosecutors to study it.

“You know, this is beyond politics. Don’t think that this is politics and that I’m doing this to favor politics. We don’t have politics there. What is stated in the statement is a clear enumeration of violations of laws written in our laws. It cannot be ignored just like that,” Torre said.

On Thursday, the former president told supporters about using a bomb to kill 15 senators to create vacancies for the senatorial bets he is supporting.

“Now, there’s many of them,” Duterte said on Thursday, referring to the incumbent senators. “What should we do? Let’s kill the senators now to create vacancies.”

“If we can kill around 15 senators, we can all go in,” the ex-president sent, referring to the senatorial bets he was campaigning for. He said that the “only way to do it is to use a bomb.”

Five incumbent senators, including President Marcos’ sister, Imee, were running for reelection under the administration ticket.

Duterte’s lawyer, Salvador Panelo, said he was confident the case would be dismissed because the former president’s remarks should not be taken seriously. He said the senators would find the joke “just as amusing and (a) laughable remark.”

But Torre said Duterte’s jokes “are no longer acceptable.”

“He wants to kill the 15 senators he wants to bomb (them),” Torre said. 

The police are urging “the public to respect the legal process and avoid speculation that may mislead or create unnecessary division,” Torre said.

President Marcos touched on Duterte’s remarks during Saturday’s rally for his administration-backed senatorial candidates in the southern Davao del Norte province.

“We just heard the other day, maybe they felt they stand no chance, that they will just kill 15 senators,” he said.

“That’s the problem when people think that the only solution is for them to kill their fellow Filipinos.”

While Duterte’s officials often say the former leader’s utterances were never serious, thousands of suspected addicts and dealers had been killed during his six years in power from 2016-2022. 

Analysts said the Duterte family was using the political race to shore up support for the ex-president’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, who may face an impeachment trial in the Senate in July for an alleged threat to assassinate Marcos Jr., his wife and the House Speaker.

The Dutertes support the reelection bids of incumbent Sens. Ronald dela Rosa, who served as a police chief under the Duterte administration, and Christopher Go, the former aide of President Duterte. 

They are joined by Duterte’s spiritual adviser Apollo Quiboloy and outgoing Congressman Rodante Marcoleta, a staunch supporter of the Duterte family.

Dela Rosa was the chief enforcer of Duterte’s controversial drug war while Quiboloy commanded the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), a religious group that had grown in prominence and influence during Duterte’s presidency. He is campaigning from jail, where he is fighting sex trafficking charges, including minors.

If they win in the May midterm elections, they are expected to protect Sara Duterte amid the impeachment process, analysts said.

Earlier this month, Sara Duterte – the running mate of Marcos in the 2022 national elections – was impeached by the House of Representatives, who had accused her of violating the constitution, graft and corruption, plotting to assassinate Marcos as well as other high crimes.

In response, the vice president said she won’t resign from her post as vice president and denied making an assassination threat against her former political ally.

The Marcos and Duterte families are two of the country’s leading political families. They entered into an alliance to defeat the opposition in 2022, with Sara Duterte agreeing to run as a Marcos’ deputy. 

In the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately, part of a system of checks and balances built into the constitution.

The alliance subsequently soured amid mounting pressure for Marcos to allow international prosecutors to investigate the former president on his drug war. The president initially said he would block International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators from entering the country to investigate, but later said they could carry out their own investigation here as well.

• Jojo Riñoza in Manila contributed to this report.