By JOSEPH HOLANDES UBALDE
Interaksyon.com
NESTOR Rivera was very upset when he saw Davao mayor Sara Duterte making a human punching bag of his fellow court sheriff last week.
Rivera, who serves as the sheriff at the Regional Trial Court Branch 221, which is hearing the high-profile Ampatuan trial in Bicutan, only has words of sympathy for the victim, Abe Andres.
“Duterte should have just talked to him,” Rivera told reporters in Filipino. “But what she did was very demeaning. That will set a bad precedent.”
The incident that was heard all over the world involved Duterte throwing at least four blows to the face and head of Andres during a violent dispersal of informal settlers in Agdao district in Davao. But for Rivera, this image has left a lasting impression on him on how some local officials could just literally take the law into their own hands.
As court sheriff, Rivera is given the difficult task of serving the arrest warrants to suspects, subpoenas to witnesses and orders handed down by the judge. As the court’s errand boy, their job entails occasional risks, especially in controversial cases such as the Ampatuan trial.
Rivera had his share of bad experiences in the Ampatuan trial. When the court summoned Dr. Tomas Dimaandal, the medico-legal expert who did the autopsy for some of the 58 murdered in Maguindanao, Rivera remembered the dangerous ordeal he had to go through.
“Dimaandal didn’t want to cooperate,” Rivera said. “We were almost run down by his vehicle in Mindanao.”
The Cebu City chapter of the Sheriff Confederation of the Philippines (Scophil) earlier condemned the punching incident and urged a thorough investigation into the matter. It also looked down on Duterte’s action.
“As the mother of the city, she should be a role model,” said Jessie Belarmino, Scophil-Cebu president in a radio interview.
Duterte, who is also a lawyer, was met with criticism from her colleagues in the legal field. The Quezon City Trial Lawyers League, Inc. (QCTLLI) reminded Duterte that she should “act accordingly to the attorney’s oath” and never forget that public officials like her should never take the law into their own hands.
“The incident which has hogged media attention, both domestic and international, undermines the rule of law and brings ridicule to the Philippines, where screaming headlines brand the country as not only uncivilized but barbaric,” the lawyers’ group said.
Since the incident, Duterte issued an apology to those she may have “hurt” and took a five-day leave of absence pending the result of the investigation on her.
For now, Rivera is reminded how sometimes their job as court sheriifs could be belittled by other people.
“I feel sorry for how they disregarded the justice system,” Rivera said.