EDITORIAL - A grave threat

Former president Rodrigo Duterte is in the limelight again. After stirring controversy with his visit to China President Xi Jinping he is again the center of attention after threatening a lawmaker.

Reacting to the move of Congress to deny the Confidential and Intelligence Funds (CIF) requested by his daughter, Vice President Sara Carpio, he said he wants to kill ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro.

Castro was one of those who questioned why the Department of Education, also headed by the vice president, has CIF.

“Ikaw France, kayong mga komunista ang gusto kong patayin,” he said in a TV interview last week with his spiritual adviser.

It’s sad that after all these years he still cannot tell between who is an activist and who merely wants accountability from the government and who is a communist insurgent who actually wants to overthrow it.

It’s even sadder that he still can’t rein in his words. Some may laugh at his words off, chalk it up to his being a provinciano who wears his heart on his sleeve, doesn’t censor himself, and says the first thing that comes to mind.

But we don’t find it funny. It wasn’t funny when he made threats to kill people as president and it isn’t funny now.

In case the former president he doesn’t realize it he is no longer in power. He is no longer covered by any immunity when it comes to lawsuits. So this pretty much leaves him open to charges should Castro want to proceed in that direction.

Former president or not, he shouldn’t threaten to kill others. In fact, this should apply in particular to former presidents. Considering how many sycophants he still has, there is no telling if some of them will take this seriously and consider this a command.

It also doesn’t help that he was once mayor of a city infamous for extrajudicial killings.

Let Castro do as she wishes and sue. There should be no distinction between those who threaten to kill others, former president or not.