INTERIOR Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla yesterday said Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte will continue to serve as the city’s local chief executive (LCE) in view of the legal ordeal of his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte who won the mayoralty race in last Monday’s elections.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has proclaimed Duterte as the winner of the mayoral race in Davao City, defeating his former secretary of the Cabinet, Karlo Nograles.
Duterte, however, is detained on crimes against humanity charges in the International Criminal Court (ICC) prison in relation to the extrajudicial killings under his administration’s brutal war on drugs.
During last Monday’s polls, Duterte garnered 662,630 votes, while Nograles got 80,852 votes.
Remulla said the younger Duterte, who won as vice mayor in the polls, will take over as acting mayor.
“The winning vice mayor will assume in an acting capacity,” Remulla said in a message when asked if the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will allow the former president to perform his duties as city mayor while detained in The Hague or install the winning vice mayor as the acting mayor.
The elder Duterte was arrested last March 11 based on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. He is currently detained at the ICC headquarters in The Haque, awaiting trial.
Remulla’s response was aligned with the provisions of the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991.
The LGC discussed a scenario in which a governor of a province, or mayor of a city or municipality, or a punong barangay is temporarily incapacitated to perform his or her duties “for physical or legal reasons such as, but not limited to, leave of absence, travel abroad, and suspension from office.”
In such case, the LGC states that the vice governor, vice mayor, or the highest ranking Sangguniang Barangay member “shall automatically exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the local chief executive concerned, except the power to appoint, suspend, or dismiss employees which can only be exercised if the period of temporary incapacity exceeds thirty (30) working days.”
The LGC said the temporary incapacity of the LCE shall be terminated upon submission by the concerned LCE to the concerned Sanggunian of a written declaration that he or she has reported back to office.
“In cases where the temporary incapacity is due to legal causes, the local chief executive concerned shall also submit necessary documents showing that said legal causes no longer exist,” the law also states.
