CIDG files sedition raps vs Rody; NBI says no case

'KILL 15 SENATORS'

- Evelyn Macairan and Mark Ernest Villeza

PNP-CIDG chief Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said Duterte's remarks should not be taken lightly. In filing the complaint with the Department of Justice, Torre said the PNP-CIDG is undertaking a case build-up against Duterte, as required under the DOJ's Department Circular 20 that institutionalizes the policy on "pro-active involvement of prosecutors" in such a procedure.

On the other hand, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago sees no need to investigate Duterte, saying the remarks given during an election campaign were just "political propaganda and rhetoric."

The NBI chief, who previously filed a complaint for grave threats and inciting to sedition against Duterte's daughter Vice President Sara Duterte, argued that the former president's statements should be understood in the context of political discourse.

Torre, however, noted, "It is already the Bagong Pilipinas and those kinds of statements should be prohibited, and the following morning he would just say that it was only a joke."

"This is the reason why our country was in a mess for six years. Up to now we are still a mess because of all the killings. If they will be taken for their word, then they will say that it was a joke only, or their latest excuse - that he is only expressing a legal opinion. That is already too much," Torre said.

While no sitting senator and senatorial candidate has filed a complaint against Duterte, Torre said that he, as a Filipino and as a police officer, opted to take the initiative to take legal action.

"For some, this may be viewed as a small issue. But it is being uttered by a former president and it is not far-fetched that it will be taken seriously by his blind supporters, because this has happened before. He said that drug users should be killed and so many were killed that we no longer know where the vigilante is coming from.

The fact remains