DILG chief: Sheriffs’ case vs Duterte over punching incident enough

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte is about to throw a punch to Sheriff Abe Andres during demolition work in a residential area in the city. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo explained on Wednesday why his office decided not to pursue a case against Mayor Sara Duterte for physically attacking a court sheriff in July.

“The DILG would have filed an administrative case but we learned that the Confederation of Sheriffs have already filed the case,” Robredo told reporters at the Grand Regal Hotel here.

He said based on the outcome of the investigation that a team from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) had formed, “the mayor made a mistake” when she repeatedly punched court sheriff Abe Andres during a demolition of squatter shanties in Agdao on July 1.

In its report, the DILG team said Duterte’s punching of Andres was “neither acceptable nor the only option then.”

It, however, recognized that Duterte’s action was spurred by her desire to avert violence from ensuing between the demolition team and settlers in Agdao whose houses were set to be demolished.

But the DILG said that Duterte could have only just directed the police to stop the demolition or negotiate with the settlers.

“When Mayor Duterte did not venture in any of these options, probable cause has existed for her to be indicted for misconduct,” the DILG report said.

But Robredo said that since a case was filed by the sheriffs’ group, the DILG opted not to charge Duterte.

He also said “the judge was wrong, the sheriff was wrong” when the demolition was carried out despite a law that required the implementation of similar orders only 30 days after their issuance.

“We noted that the law requires a 30-day notice before the actual demolition,” he said.

Robredo said the incident would not have happened if the sheriff “waited for 30 days” before implementing the court order.

But in finding fault with Duterte, Robredo said “the demolition could have been stopped in a different way without punching the sheriff.”

Duterte, who had been busy attending to the victims of the June floods in the city, rushed to Agdao after having been informed that houses were being demolished and that residents were fighting back.

She said she tried to ask Andres to stay the demolition to prevent bloodshed and to prevent more people from being displaced, but the sheriff would not listen.

Duterte had since apologized to Andres but maintained she did the right thing to prevent bloodshed.