DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Controversial court sheriff Abe Andres yesterday sought another five-day leave of absence, taking himself out of the limelight following the altercation with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte last week.
Andres declared he would not press any charges against Duterte and urged critics to leave him in peace.
Andres refused to appear before the two lawyers sent by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to investigate the incident.
He said he already submitted his report of the incident to his employer, Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 16 Judge Emmanuel Carpio.
Duterte punched Andres in the face several times in a fit of anger last week in her effort to save thousands of families from being evicted from their homes.
Duterte said Andres ignored her request to stay the demolition of a squatter colony in Barangay Soliman in Agdao district since it would affect thousands of families already suffering from the recent floods.
Duterte voluntarily went on leave to allow the investigation of the punching incident to proceed.
She appointed her father, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, to take over the administration of the city.
The elder Duterte, for his part, defended his daughter’s actions against Andres.
Duterte, who served as a government prosecutor, said Andres violated the mandatory 30-day reglamentary period before an eviction order of the court is implemented under Republic Act 7279, or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
He said Judge Carpio issued the eviction order on June 21, thus, it should have been implemented at the earliest on July 21.
The eviction order, however, was immediately implemented on July 1, eventually leading to a riot with the police and his daughter Sara punching Andres.
Duterte said the court had not only violated the 30-day reglamentary period but also the “good weather” condition under the law.
He said Davao City was under a state of calamity at the time the demolition was implemented because of the flashfloods that left 30 people dead.
Duterte added the mere presence of the court sheriff in the area before the lapse of the reglamentary period is already a violation of the law, thus Mayor Duterte was simply exercising her authority to arrest violators.
“Mayor Duterte was arresting the sheriff because he (Andres) was not supposed to be there,” Duterte said.
When asked if he will file a case against Judge Carpio and court sheriff Andres for violation of the law, Duterte only said he does not want to make matters worse.