Sara Duterte: SC aspirant working to have my disbarment case withdrawn

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Wednesday said an aspirant to the Supreme Court is behind efforts to ask petitioners and witnesses to withdraw the disbarment complaint filed against her in 2011.

“This person has been trying to spin my case to get a favorable ruling — hoping that I may take notice of him. This individual should take note that I do not have a hand in Supreme Court appointments. That is beyond my authority as mayor of Davao City,” Duterte-Carpio said in a statement, referring to the High Court aspirant she didn’t name.

The Davao City mayor also warned the Office of the President to “think twice in appointing this individual to be a justice — more so a chief justice.”

“He clearly lacks the virtues of honor, justice, and fairness,” she said.

She went on to clarify that she never asked any complainant or witness to withdraw their disbarment complaint against her which stemmed from the July 1, 2011 incident in Davao City where she punched Sheriff Abe Andres during a demolition inside a contested property in Barangay Soliman in Davao’s Agdao district.

“Please do not believe individuals making representations on my behalf,” she said.  /muf