The recent threats made against various personalities both physically and online could be attributed to the culture that was set by Vice President Sara Duterte through her threats against high-ranking public officials in the country, said House Public Prosecutor Rep. Terry Ridon.

“The truth is, what we are prosecuting is not just the threats of the Vice President. What we are prosecuting is the culture of threats,” Ridon said during a press conference on Friday, 10 July.

“The followers follow the leader right? So if the leader makes threats against the president, even her supporters will do the same to those criticizing their leader,” he added.

The lawmaker himself was subject of a recent attack, sharing on his social media profile a screenshot of a threat made by a barangay official from Sultan Kudarat.

Ridon confirmed to the DAILY TRIBUNE through a viber message that he was going to seek assistance from the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to have the official suspended from his post.

He related his experience to that of their current role in prosecuting the case of the Vice President, noting that holding public officials to high standards and accountability for their actions comes with no exception–regardless of the personalities involved.

“These cases are equal, if we are prosecuting the Vice President through the impeachment, we will also prosecute her supporters like the councilor,” he said.

Speaking on the same topic, Manila Rep. Joel Chua said that the culture established by the Dutertes was not only felt through threats, but through the recent spree of physical violence in the country.

Chua cited the recent Tacloban school shooting incident as an example, stating that the lack or insufficiency of laws in place were not necessarily the issue but the people that children look up to.

He said that such a precedent further highlighted the importance of their current role, as it was meant to ensure that the culture at its core was addressed.

“In this impeachment we are not only seeking accountability from the Vice President, we also want to show the children and to the public that this is wrong, this should not be the attitude of the highest public officials in the country,” the solon said.

House Deputy Speaker Rep. Janette Garin, on the other hand, expanded on the issue, noting that regardless of the background of the threats uttered by a particular individual, threatening someone was never justifiable.

“Threatening somebody, especially if you are in an elected position, or even in a non-elected position of superiority…it is not justifiable,” Garin said.

“Accountability and a leadership position come hand in hand. What the councilor did can not be normalized…because as an elected official, there are certain ideal characteristics that our supporters have and we have to set a good example,” she added.

The Senate impeachment court is set to resume its proceedings on fourth article of impeachment concerning Duterte’s verbal threats towards the president, first lady, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Monday, 13 July.