Court sheriffs say punching incident in Davao City may set bad precedent

MANILA, Philippines — Representatives from the Sheriffs’ Confederation of the Philippines met with Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez on Monday afternoon to air their concern over the incident in which Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte repeatedly punched a court sheriff when he did not give in to his request to delay by two hours the demolition of squatter shanties in the city.

Officials of the Sheriffs’ Confederation said the incident might set a bad precedent in the country.

“They are concerned that if nothing happens with this case, this might happen again to other court sheriffs,” Marquez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone following their meeting at the Supreme Court in Manila.

“I would like to think this is an isolated incident. I hope it is an isolated incident,” he added.

Marquez said the court sheriffs he met have not decided what action to take against Duterte yet as they were still waiting for information on what exactly happened. The court sheriffs, Marquez said, had not even spoken with Abe Andres, the Davao City court sheriff attacked by Duterte last Friday.

Andres was serving a notice of demolition in a contested property in Davao’s Agdao district. Duterte said she lost her temper after Andres supposedly ignored her request to delay the demolition for another two hours.

Duterte punched Andres three to four times, with her bodyguard holding the sheriff’s arms in his back, preventing him from defending himself.

Andres ended up having a swollen left eye. Duterte ordered him brought to a hospital after the incident.

Marquez said he was still waiting for the report of Davao City executive judge Manuel Carpio, who issued the demolition notice. Carpio is also reported to be a relative of Duterte’s husband.

Marquez said he was promised that Carpio would submit the report on Tuesday.

Marquez said he wanted Andres to submit a report on the incident but neither he nor Carpio could locate him.

“I haven’t spoken with him (Andres) yet. We are trying to locate him but we couldn’t find him. The executive judge was also trying to contact him. I hope he’s not in hiding. I heard he had filed for a leave of absence. I just want to get his statement from his end on what really happened,” Marquez said.