Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s punch line: No demolition

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The informal settlers of Barangay Soliman in Agdao District, the demolition of whose houses caused Mayor Sara Duterte to assault a court sheriff on Friday, have started to peacefully dismantle their dwellings and move to a government relocation site.

“It’s so painful losing our homes,” Penny Panungkad, one of the settlers who lost their claim of land ownership to a Chinese businessman, said on Tuesday. “This used to be a swampy area and we were the ones who filled it with soil until many others followed.”

For Panungkad, Duterte’s action was laudable: “When she arrived, not a single house was demolished.”

Panungkad, 53, was among those injured in the July 1 confrontation between the settlers and the police-backed demolition team led by Sheriff Abe Andres of the Davao Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 16.

An incensed Mayor Duterte, who had rushed to Soliman from another barangay where she was distributing relief goods to flood victims, repeatedly punched Andres after he denied her request that the demolition be deferred for two hours.

Hours later, RTC Judge Emmanuel Carpio ordered a 10-day moratorium on the demolition to allow the settlers to move to the relocation site in Los Amigos in Tugbok District that the city government had provided.

The settlers have agreed not to resist when the demolition team returns after 10 days, according to Barangay Chair Fulgencio Pavo.

“We talked clearly that they will not resort to violence,” Pavo said.

73 households

As of Tuesday, 73 households had been listed as qualified to avail of the relocation program, said Roque Magpuyo, coordinator of the city planning and development office.

These households have begun dismantling their houses and the materials hauled to waiting government trucks.

But some settlers said they were still hoping that the court’s decision would be reversed. “We want a reinvestigation of the land ownership,” said one, who asked not to be named.

Duterte’s action has drawn contrasting reactions, with some saying it was abuse of power and others lauding her for defending the poor.

A team from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has begun an inquiry into the incident.

“What I gleaned from their questions was that they were trying to validate the news reports and what really happened,” Duterte said after her brief conversation with the DILG team late Monday.

“They wanted me to recount what really happened on that day, but I said so many things were happening and I don’t think that’s still possible,” she said.

Duterte has gone on leave to pave the way for an unhampered investigation. Her father, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, is temporarily in charge of City Hall.

Not in hiding

At a press conference in Manila, Supreme Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez said Sheriff Andres was not in hiding as earlier thought and had merely turned off his phone to avoid calls.

Marquez said he had spoken with Andres’ brother, a judge in Digos, Davao del Sur province, who said the sheriff “is safe and sound, except that he has refrained from talking to others.”

Marquez said the judge had assured him that the sheriff would soon be sending an incident report to him.

“I want to know exactly what happened,” Marquez said.

Late Monday afternoon, Marquez met with officers of the Sheriffs’ Confederation of the Philippines (SCP), who aired their concern over Duterte’s behavior.

“They are concerned that if nothing happens with this case, this might happen again to other court sheriffs,” Marquez told the Inquirer by phone after the meeting at the Supreme Court. “I hope it is an isolated incident,” he said.

Marquez said the court sheriffs had yet to decide on any action against Duterte as they were awaiting a report on the incident and had not even spoken with Andres.

But Jessie Belarmino, president of the SCP chapter in Cebu City, on Tuesday said on radio: “Of course, we have to condemn [Duterte’s actions]. The use of violence was excessive … As the mother of the city, she should be a role model.”

Belarmino also said Duterte could be “criminally liable” for assaulting Andres.

Not first time

As it turned out, this was not the first time Andres carried out a court order in haste.

He was earlier suspended for a year and six months without pay as a result of how he implemented a court order on the seizure of 22 motor vehicles owned by one Kenneth Hao.

In a ruling dated June 18, 2008, Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing Jr. found Andres guilty of gross neglect of duty and grave abuse of authority.

Hao, one of the defendants of the civil case filed by Zenaida Silver involving 22 vehicles that she claimed to own, had complained that Andres “gave undue advantage” to Silver.

Andres also carried out the seizure order in an “oppressive manner,” accompanied by unidentified armed personnel on board a military vehicle, Hao had said.

He had said this was an “excessive” action because he and his companions did not resist.

The civil offense of gross negligence would have been punishable with dismissal from office, but the court took note that it was Andres’ first offense. But Quisumbing’s ruling carried with it a warning that a more severe penalty would be imposed if a similar offense would be committed.

Consider the context

Asked to comment on Duterte’s action against Andres, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said: “The act of punching is per se a violation of law … But like any criminal act, there are mitigating circumstances. The whole context of the incident may be considered in evaluating the possible culpability of Mayor Sara Duterte.”

An officer of the women’s group Gabriela said that if the mayor had been her father, Andres and the police would have heeded her request for a two-hour stay in the demolition.

“But the young mayor stood by the hope of avoiding further violence, causing her to teach the sheriff a lesson,” said Lyda Canson, Gabriela Davao chair emeritus.

“She will be a topic of news for a long time,” Canson said, adding that Duterte exemplified a woman leader determined to protect an oppressed sector from further violence.

“We salute her for taking sides with the poor,” Canson said. “She is a cut above the usual breed of politicians who are indifferent to the people’s plight borne by poverty and government neglect. … We need more people in government like Sara.”

‘Righteous indignation’

Human rights lawyers belonging to the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) said they “understood the righteous indignation” of Duterte.

In a statement, they said they were standing by the “poor and powerless” who had been oppressed by laws unresponsive to the plight of those seeking decent homes and instead “prop up unbridled private individual property rights over basic collective rights.”

NUPL secretary general Edre Olalia told the Inquirer by phone the statement did not mean the group was condoning the assault.

“We have always spoken out against vigilantism and gangsterism in Davao City,” Olalia said. “What [Duterte] did was a crime—[committing] physical injury—and the bodyguards held [Andres] down … But it’s not just that. She asked for a two-hour extension. What’s two more hours?” With reports from Nikko Dizon in Manila; Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas