MANILA, Philippines—“Hindi makatao”[Inhumane].
This was how Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Etta Rosales described Davao Mayor Sara Duterte’s assault on a court sheriff who was trying to issue a court order that would have led to the demolition of houses in a contested property in Barangay (village) Soliman, district of Agdao in Davao City. The lady mayor had requested for a two-hour deferment of the demolition.
Rosales said that while Duterte’s action was inhumane, the court’s order to demolish the shanties just about after Davao was declared under a state of calamity was equally inhumane. “They should have suspended the order and considered the calamity the city just had.”
Sheriff Abe Andres received four blows in the left eye, the face and the back, and was taken to the hospital shortly afterwards by the mayor’s bodyguard.
Rosales also said she was shocked that the security guard handcuffed the sheriff who was already running away after being punched. “The one who’s aggressive wasn’t restrained,” she noted.
Rosales likewise scored Davao city Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor’s father, for hurling invectives and flashing a dirty finger during a press conference, describing his actions as “arrogance of power.”
“It was alarming because it reflects the arrogance of power of an official who refuses to be criticized,” Rosales said.
Rosales reminded government officials that they are public servants and not kings.