Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has come to the defense of his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, in the face of scrutiny surrounding confidential funds and issued controversial threats against a sitting member of Congress.

In a now-viral interview, Duterte unambiguously stated his desire to kill ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro and those affiliated with the communist movement.

Castro is a fervent critic of Duterte and is among the lawmakers vigorously pushing for transparency regarding the use of confidential funds by the Vice President and other government agencies.

“Pero ang una mong target sa intelligence fund mo, ‘kayo, ikaw, France (Castro), kayong mga komunista ang gusto kong patayin.’ Sabihin mo na sa kaniya. Pero hindi naman niya sinabi, sabi niya, ‘Alam mo kasi, Pa, ‘pag sinabi ko, baka i-harrass na ‘yung mga PMT,” (But your first target with your intelligence fund should be you, France (Castro), you, the communists, I want to eliminate. Tell her that. But she didn’t say it; she said, ‘You know, Pa, if I say that, they might harass the PMT institutions) Duterte said.

Duterte’s threats against communists carry a certain irony, given his historical association with the late Jose Maria Sison, co-founder and former leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Furthermore, after assuming the presidency in 2016, Duterte initially sought to appease and engage in peace talks with communist rebels, refusing to label them as state enemies.

It was only after the insurgents made specific demands, such as the release of 400 detained guerrillas and targeting soldiers in ambushes, that Duterte adopted a more confrontational stance towards the communist movement.

Duterte’s critics also label him a lapdog of the Communist Party of China (CPP), not only for seeking Chinese loans but also for failing to defend the country’s territories during his presidency.

Recently, Duterte visited China and held discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, effectively reaffirming his loyalty and the commitment of the Philippine government amid escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

In an interview with SMNI on Tuesday evening, October 10, the former president criticized Castro, one of the most vocal opponents of his daughter Vice President Sara Duterte’s use of confidential funds.

Duterte revealed that he advised his daughter to be forthright with Congress, particularly with Castro, and suggested using confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) to combat communist insurgency in the country.

However, Vice President Sara apparently did not heed her father’s suggestion, expressing concerns that the Philippine Military Training (PMT) institutions might face harassment if the CIFs were used for this purpose.

““Sabi ko kay Inday (Sara Duterte), diretsuhin mo na. Itong intelligence fund na ito is to prepare the minds of the Filipinos, itong insurgency na hindi matapos-tapos and the ROTC para preparado tayo kung magkagiyera. [Sa] ganitong sitwasyon ngayon, ‘pag wala tayong sundalo, meron tayong mga bata who will take care of their respective barangay to help government,” (I told Inday (Sara Duterte), be direct. These intelligence funds are to prepare the minds of Filipinos, addressing the insurgency that seems endless, and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) to ensure we are ready in times of war. In this situation, when we have no soldiers, we have our youth who will take care of their respective communities to support the government) Duterte emphasized.

Recently, Representative Castro criticized Vice President Sara over the alleged expenditure of ₱125 million in confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) within just 11 days in 2022.

The legislator also recently questioned Vice President Sara’s defense of the confidential funds of her office.

The House of Representatives recently removed confidential funds from five government agencies for the 2024 budget, intending to reallocate these funds to agencies dealing with the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue and those focused on maintaining peace and order in the country. T

he OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) were among the agencies whose confidential funds were reallocated for 2024.