THE Supreme Court has cleared former President Rodrigo Duterte of simple misconduct for which he was meted a six-month suspension when he was mayor of Davao City.
In a decision promulgated on March 15 but made public only on June 29, the High Court’s Second Division upheld the Jan. 28, 2011 ruling of the Court of Appeals that reversed the April 21, 2010 order of the Office of the Ombudsman suspending Duterte and five other Davao City officials.
The SC ruling also exonerated then city administrator Wendel Avisado, city administrator Jose Gestuveo Jr., city engineer Elmer Rano, city legal officer Melchor Quitain, and Yusop Jimlani of the Drainage and Maintenance Unit.
Duterte, as president, appointed Avisado first as deputy secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Council, then as Presidential Assistant for Special Concerns, and in 2019, as Budget secretary replacing Benjamin Diokno who was named to head the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
To recall, Duterte and the other respondents were charged by his political rival, the late former Speaker Prospero Nograles, in connection with the 2006 canal cover project initiated by Nograles in his capacity as Davao City representative. The project in the city’s Quezon Boulevard was aimed “to secure the residents and children from any untoward accident, prevent disposal of garbage and clogging of canal and prevent emission of foul odors.”
Two years later, the Davao City government headed by Duterte as mayor informed the Department of Public Works and Highways that since the concrete flooring was constructed on top of the drainage canal, garbage could not be dredged, impeding the flow of floodwaters. It also wrote the DPWH of its plan to remove the concrete flooring.
The Davao City Legal Office also issued a legal opinion that Nograles’ project constitutes a public nuisance as it obstructed the free flow of floodwaters.
On top of this, the city government also said the concrete cover of the project was named “Nograles Park,” which it said is a violation of the Local Government Code which requires approval of the city council for the naming of public parks.
Armed with the legal opinion, the city government demolished the canal cover project.
Nograles then sued Duterte and the other city officials before the Ombudsman for grave misconduct and grave abuse of authority.
In 2010, the Ombudsman found Duterte and his co-respondents guilty of simple misconduct and ordered their suspension for six months.
Duterte then brought the case to the appellate court, which stopped the Ombudsman from implementing its suspension order pending resolution of the case on its merits.
The CA later reversed the Ombudsman’s order, adding that Duterte and his co-respondents were not liable for simple misconduct.
It held that under the Local Government Code, the city engineer shall also act as the local building official, thus, a permit from the local building official was unnecessary for the demolition.
