NBI: We’ll probe Duterte’s ‘kill’ remark if senators ask for help
National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago reiterated on Tuesday his stance that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s “kill” remarks during a proclamation rally were just “rhetoric” but clarified that the bureau would take action should a senator file a complaint.
“Our primary jurisdiction [covers] threats to our President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House and Chief Justice. That is motu proprio, the NBI will enter [the case],” Santiago said during a press conference.
“Here is another matter— senators. We need them; any senator who thinks that they are the ones being threatened [by Duterte], they can come to us and we will take action,” he added.
Crowded slate
During the proclamation rally of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan on Feb. 13 held at Club Filipino in San Juan City, Duterte suggested that they could kill 15 senators in order to make room for his party’s senatorial candidates given the large number of aspirants.
“What should we do? Well, let’s kill the senators now to create vacancies,” he told the audience who laughed and chanted “Kill, kill.”
Duterte’s remark prompted Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police, to file a complaint against him for inciting to sedition and unlawful utterances in the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday.
Torre said Duterte’s words “may seem trivial, but coming from a former president, it’s not farfetched that it could be copied or taken seriously by his blind supporters.”
“Because it’s already happened, right? He said to kill drug addicts, and it actually happened,” he added.
DOJ’s call
Reacting to Torre’s complaint, Santiago said: “In my point of view, like I said, rhetoric. We all know Digong, he likes to tell jokes. But the CIDG is different in its beliefs when it comes to the speeches of Digong. That is one proof that no one can dictate [to] us.”
“The case is already at the DOJ, it is up to them to weigh [whether it is a joke or not],” he said.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong on Sunday also urged the NBI to investigate Duterte’s statements, pointing out it investigated the threats made by his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, against President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
But Santiago stressed that the issue involves senators and not House members.
“With due respect to them, they are pushing for a case but they are not the ones involved in this. It is the senators,” the NBI chief said.
“Those who are immediately affected, meaning those who are being threatened that they would be killed, they know it is not true, that the [former] president is just joking. Who am I [to say otherwise?]” he told reporters.
Santiago said that currently, no senator has asked for help from the NBI regarding Duterte’s statements.
But should someone file a complaint with the bureau, he said they would “look at all the angles,” including how the statement was delivered and the circumstances behind it.
