(NOT a legal opinion

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro is preparing to file charges against former president Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly making threats towards the progressive lawmaker.

Duterte, who no longer enjoys immunity from suit, may potentially face charges related to direct and serious threats made against Castro.

But was there really a “DIRECT and SERIOUS” threat in Duterte’s statement on live TV?

We examined the video tape of Duterte’s interview with SMNI. To put everything in context, the former president was relating a conversation he had with his daughter, VP Sara Duterte. That was very clear when he said “intelligence fund mo,” referring to Sara’s confidential intelligence fund which the House of Representatives slashed from the OVP’s budget.

Then, as far as the “threat” was concerned, the older Duterte was telling his daughter to say it (sabihin mo) to the “communists and France.” In other words, it was not a DIRECT threat, but merely a suggestion for his daughter.

Under Philippine law, issuing death threats can be prosecuted as “Grave Threats” under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code. If the threat is written or in verbal form and the person making the threat has the ability to carry it out, a case can be filed against them.

Here is the video clip of that interview on SMNI. We leave it to our readers to form their own opinion. We’d like to hear from you!