Baste Duterte to serve as acting Davao City mayor —Comelec

Vice Mayor Baste Duterte may serve as acting mayor of Davao City amid the detention of former President Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague, Netherlands, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday. 

Citing the Local Government Code, poll chief George Erwin Garcia explained the rule of succession applies to cases of elected local officials who are temporarily incapacitated from performing their duties.  

“Yes, by operation of the law,” Garcia answered when asked if the elected vice mayor will serve as Davao City's acting mayor. 

“‘Yung mag-assume ng position will be assuming in an acting capacity unless maging permanent incapacity,” he said.

Section 46 of the Local Government Code states that  “when the governor, city or municipal mayor, or punong barangay is temporarily incapacitated to perform his duties for physical or legal reasons such as, but not limited to, leave of absence, travel abroad, and suspension from office, the vice-governor, city or municipal 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 30 days”.

Meanwhile, Garcia said that upon assumption of office at 12 noon of June 30, local elected officials are now under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). 

“Basta naproklama na at wala namang case sa amin na naka-pending, ang jurisdiction ay wala na sa amin. Basta walang kaso sa amin, walang nakapending, wala kaming naging desiyon, naproklama, kaagad ang jurisdiction ay malilipat sa DILG,” he said. 

(As long as they were proclaimed and have no pending cases before us, the jurisdiction will be under the DILG.)

“Lalo na pagdating ng June 30. So kung sino ngayon ang uupo, sino papaupuin, ano nangyari sa kandidato, yan ay call na ng DILG,” he added. 

(Come June 30, the DILG will have the say on who will serve and what will happen to the winning local candidates.)

Duterte won as Davao City mayor in the recent May midterm elections, garnering 662,630 votes. —LDF, GMA Integrated News