For his recent comments saying the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should remove President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from office, by force if necessary, former president Rodrigo Duterte may face charges of inciting sedition.
A Justice department official said Duterte’s statements were “bordering on sedition” at the very least, after the ex-president called on the AFP to “rethink” their support for Marcos.
Jesse Andres, Justice undersecretary and National Prosecution Services head, said they will be conducting a thorough review of video recordings of both Duterte and his daughter, Vice-president Sara Duterte-Carpio, who had earlier said she arranged for the killing of the President, the First Lady, and the Speaker of the House in the event she is murdered.
Andres told local media: “We are studying closely the statements but it is bordering on sedition because of the tirade against the President. His (supposed) inability to lead are all matters within the bounds of possible sedition.”
The older Duterte had also been undermining the presidency with his constant allusions to Marcos’s supposed drug habit, as the Vice-president had more recently.
Andres also said that the VP’s threat to have the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez eliminated in a “revenge” killing was illegal, as was the recent attempts of the Dutertes to call for a people power-style revolt along EDSA.
“There are legal remedies” to the complaints of the Dutertes, he said.
Sara Duterte, in particular, has publicly stated it was Speaker Romualdez who was plotting to have her killed. This would remove her from running for president in 2028, a post that is said to be a goal for Romualdez.
For its part, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it is also probing the former president’s call for the military to “correct” what Duterte described as a “fracture in governance” under the Marcos government.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago said last week that they were verifying the authenticity of Duterte’s statement made during an online press conference in Davao City last November 24.
“We are thoroughly examining the matter,” said Santiago, adding, “We are already taking steps (to see) if the video clip and his statement are indeed authentic.”
He did not discount the possibility that the video was a deep fake.
The NBI is also investigating VP Duterte-Carpio’s claims that her life was under threat.
As for the former president, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reminded him that freedom of speech “has limitations” to what constitutes a clear and present danger.
“You have to understand that it should be only the presence of but all contemporaneous acts,” said Andres.
As such, the DOJ is including past statements of the former president made against the current administration.
“We will tie that up to understand the context of the statement and if that crosses the line, we have to deal with it based on the existing laws,” said Andres.
In a related development, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it would remain apolitical amid the worsening rift between the Marcos and Duterte camps.
PNP Public Information officer Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said police officers will not be swayed by people with personal and vested interests who call for them to go against the legitimate government and the Constitution.
“We will remain apolitical and non-partisan despite these noises,” she said during a news conference in Camp Crame.
Fajardo said the country’s political leadership should exclude the PNP as well as the AFP from the current squabbles. —BETING LAYGO DOLOR (Contributing Editor)
