INTERIOR Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla yesterday said he will request the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow former president Rodrigo Duterte to take his oath as mayor of Davao City.
“We recognize him as the mayor (of Davao City),” Remulla told reporters in an ambush interview, referring to Duterte who is currently detained at an ICC facility in The Hague.
Duterte was arrested last March 11 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City based on a warrant issued by the ICC for crimes against humanity. He was flown to the Netherlands on the same night and surrendered to the international tribunal.
The Davao election board proclaimed Duterte as winner of the mayoral race in Davao City, with the official tally showing that he garnered over 660,000 votes.
His youngest son, Sebastian, the incumbent mayor of Davao, was declared Davao vice mayor.
“What I am going to do is, I will request the ICC if our consul can go there (in The Hague) so he (Duterte) can take his oath,” Remulla said,
“He needs to take the oath to assume office. But he has to be physically present (to discharge his powers as Davao City). If he can’t serve, the vice mayor will assume (as acting mayor),” he added.
Duterte is due to assume office on June 30. He will serve for three years.
Meanwhile, a winning vice mayoral candidate in the province of Isabela yesterday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from enforcing its ruling that suspended his proclamation.
In a petition for certiorari and prohibition with an urgent prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction, lawyer Jeryll Harold Paz Respicio told the SC that the poll body gravely abused its discretion in suspending his proclamation after he won the vice mayoralty race in the municipality of Reina Mercedes in Isabela during the May 12 elections.
“The said order was issued with grave abuse of discretion, amounting to lack or in excess of jurisdiction,” Respicio said in his plea, adding that the Comelec order lacked any constitutional basis and was issued in an arbitrary manner.
“The Filipino people have spoken through the ballot. Sa isang demokratikong bansa na kagaya natin, ang mahalaga ay ang mandato ng taumbayan (In a democratic country like ours, the mandate of the people reigns supreme)” he stressed,
Respicio won the vice mayoralty race with 6,042 votes over his closest rival and half-brother, Anthony Respicio, who garnered 5,456 votes.
The poll body suspended the petitioner’s proclamation due to a pending disqualification case which cited videos allegedly posted by Respicio on social media claiming that he could manipulate the results of the election through what he said is a “backroom program.”
The Comelec said Respicio’s remarks violated Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 which, among others, make the publishing of false information that could incite panic or disrupt public order punishable by law.
It then filed cyber libel charges against Respicio before the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office.
But Respicio said he did not violate any law and that the suspension of his proclamation undermines the votes of the people.
The Comelec has previously announced that winning candidates who have pending disqualification cases will not be proclaimed pending the final resolution of their cases.
Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco welcomed Respicio’s move, saying that this adheres to the call of Elections chairman George Garcia.
“The recourse of Atty, Respicio in seeking relief from the Supreme Court is an expected action on his part. This is what chairman Garcia has been saying all along: do everything within the metes and bounds of legal processes and procedures,” Laudiangco said.
The poll official said the poll body is prepared to respond to the petition and will respect whatever decision the SC will issue.
“The Comelec is ready to defend its actions at the SC with the concomitant commitment to abide by any and all orders to be issued by it,” Laudiangco said. – With Ashzel Hachero and Gerard Naval
