Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte (Photo courtesy of the Davao City Information Office)
DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Wednesday contradicted the assertion of opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV his brother, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, resienged to shield himself from possible investigations by the Office of Ombudsman over his alleged ties to illegal drug traders.
“I don’t think the Ombudsman’s probe stops just because he resigns. It doesn’t work that way,” the mayor said.
She called Trillanes “mema,” Filipino slang for someone who talks cheap.
She said she would “support all the way” her brother in his decision to quit his elective post.
She admitted that Paolo had long raised the idea of resigning after his name was dragged into the controversy involving the P6.4 billion-shabu shipment that slipped past the Bureau of Customs.
But she said the vice mayor felt ashamed he might appear abandoning his constituents, who elected him, if he had resigned that time.
“But from then until Dec. 25, many incidents happened to his personal life that were linked to his previous relationship,” she said.
Still his brother’s decision struck her as unexpected.
She said his brother’s resignation was further fueled by the well-publicized spat between him and his daughter Isabelle.
She said her brother’s resignation would become official once accepted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
She said the Commission on Election (Comelec) would help decide who among the councilors with the highest number of votes garnered in last year’s elections would replace him.
Asked if Paolo would not be running for any public office anymore, Sara said: “I don’t think he is closing his doors in running again.”
“But for this term, there are many issues impugning his honor that he felt the best way to redeem his honor and to protect his children is to resign… out of ‘delicadeza’,” the mayor added. /atm