Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte on Wednesday, Oct. 25 hit on ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro after she filed a criminal complaint against his father, former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
In a statement released to the media, Duterte underscored that while "all have the right to file a complaint" before a court, "public servants should not be onion-skinned and not make use of this right as a tool to silence critics."
"The former president has received much harsher and humiliating criticism in the past but never filed a case against anyone. As public servants, we all are under scrutiny by the Filipino people," he added.
The Davao Congressman said if his father had uttered "something that threatened" Castro, she should have "come out clean" and not hide behind "the so-called right" she possessed.
"As a congressman myself, madami din akong alam sa maka-kaliwang mga partylist representatives," he claimed.
"Tigilan na lang natin ang mga kadramahan at pagpapa-media," Duterte stressed.
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Castro filed a grave threat against the former president case before the Prosecutor's Office in Quezon City.
In an interview with the media, the House solon said the case stemmed from the "malicious threat" that Duterte uttered in an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy during a Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) program.
"Wala na siyang immunity, kailangan na niyang harapin ang kaso. Hindi na niya magagamit yung immunity," Castro said.
She said that was deeply hurt by the death threat as she received it during the time she was grieving for his father's death.
As of this posting, the former president has yet to issue a statement in regards to the criminal rap he is facing.
