DAVAO CITY—In a startling show of temper, Mayor Sara Duterte on Friday assaulted a court sheriff who was bent on demolishing houses in a contested property in Barangay (village) Soliman in the district of Agdao despite her request for a 2-hour deferment.
Sheriff Abe Andres took four blows in the left eye, the face and the back, and was taken to hospital shortly afterwards by the mayor’s bodyguard.
Sitting later in a corner of the courtroom of Judge Emmanuel Carpio, who had issued the demolition order, Andres said an emissary of Duterte’s, whom he did not name, had conveyed an apology.
He said he was awaiting the consensus of court sheriffs, as well as advice from the Sheriffs’ Confederation of the Philippines, before deciding on his action.
A number of lawyers, who asked not to be identified, said Duterte’s behavior was “very unprofessional” and constituted “obstruction of justice.” One said Duterte could be cited for contempt.
On Twitter and on the phone with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, University of the Philippines law professor Theodore Te said Duterte “could be liable under the disciplinary rules for lawyers.”
“What she did was not justifiable, not acceptable … What she could have done was take him aside and talk to him,” said Te, a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group. “[Andres] did not have to be humiliated in that manner.”
But Duterte, herself a lawyer and still fuming hours after the incident, told reporters she was not afraid.
“I don’t care,” she declared, adding in the vernacular that if she were cited for contempt, the local judiciary would be in dire financial straits: “Say goodbye to your budget. You asked for additional fund? My God, I am having difficulty with the budget. They will cite me for contempt? I will also cite them for contempt. Starting tomorrow, no more gasoline for them, no allowance, no job order!”
source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/20498/mayor-sara-duterte-smacks-the-sheriffAfter reading and watching this article from the TV, my support for Mayor Sara Duterte grew more. I know what she did was right, just like his father Vice-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said, "Ayaw pangayo og pasaylo. I congratulate you. I am proud of you. Og mawa ka sa trabaho, ma-dismiss ka sa trabaho, ayaw kaguol. Be proud of it because you were dismissed because you protected the people, especially the poor. If they disbar you--celebrate. Be happy with the thought that you were disbarred because you were furious over how they treated the people.". I don't care what other people especially the media says, what I and all other supporters of Mayor Sara Duterte know is she is not the typical politician that would just sit there and do nothing while his/her people are being mistreated. I don't care if it was not the right way to do it. So for those people who would want Mayor Sara Duterte to be dismissed from her duty, first, think of what she and her father has done that changed davao to be better, rather than focusing on that incident which is not even wrong for me. Enough Said.
Here's a short video for that incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxr_mc829xY
