Quick-to-the-punch Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte may face punishment after all.
Clarifying its previous position that Duterte would receive no sanction, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it would recommend a complaint for misconduct against the mayor for slugging a sheriff.
A member of the DILG’s legal service showed the Inquirer a draft copy of the DILG’s recommendation to Malacañang in which the agency advised that Duterte be held administratively liable for her actions on July 1.
The DILG official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the department’s findings, said the misconduct charge arose from the very act of Duterte punching sheriff Abe Andres.
Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo earlier said that no sanctions would be slapped on Duterte because there was no complaint to base the charges on.
But the official clarified that Robredo meant that the DILG could not file the complaint itself, but could only recommend that such a complaint be filed.
The official also said that the DILG legal service was still debating whether to include abuse of authority in the charges it would recommend. That charge arose out of Duterte’s failure to “exhaust all remedies” before she responded in a physically violent manner, the official explained.
Penalties for the charges range from reprimand to separation from the service.
The DILG concluded, based on its fact-finding probe, that Duterte’s actions did not measure up to public standards.
Robredo said the DILG’s recommendation would include a general guide on how local government officials should conduct themselves in situations similar to that which Duterte found herself in.
He earlier told reporters that the DILG fact-finding team had finished its report on the subject, but added that he sent the findings back to the legal service because he thought certain details were missing.
The DILG will submit on Monday or Tuesday its recommendation to Malacañang, which would ultimately decide on Duterte’s case.
An incensed Duterte was captured by TV news cameras punching Andres after the latter insisted on pushing through with the demolition of shanties in Agdao district despite her request to hold it off for two hours.
Andres did not file charges and instead apologized to the mayor.