Rodrigo Duterte threatens to shoot anyone who punches him

Seems like the elder Duterte can dish it out but cannot himself take it in the chin. Now acting Mayor of Davao City Rodrigo Duterte, in a statement to the Media, encouraged his daughter to continue resorting to violence if in the future she finds herself in a situation similar to the one that got her into trouble with the authorities this week. Then mayor Sara Duterte punched court sheriff Abe Andres in the face as he was about to execute a court order to demolish illegally-built structures in Barangay Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Sr. Suliman, Agdao.

"Pag ginawa ng sheriff ulit yan, upakan mo ulit," [translated: "If the sheriff does it again, beat him up again"] Duterte told his daughter.

The elder Duterte also threatened to shoot anyone who punched him in a hypothetical situation where roles are reversed...

"Barilin kita. Bakit mo ako suntukin? Ako nga ang peacemaker para walang gulo e to prevent bloodshed tapos suntukin ako ["I will have been the peacemaker in such a situation so punching me would be unacceptable"]. I'll shoot you," he said.

Some people, it seems, can't step outside of themselves to evaluate the landscape objectively with a critical mind.

Even his reading of the ethics behind the handling of the squatter problem that Sara Duterte was involved in leaves some room for argument. According to Duterte, people should instead focus on what at the time was the escalating violence just before Sara came into the scene...

In the interview, the vice-mayor said media reports have focused too much on the punching incident and not the violence before the demolition.

"Ang sabi ko nga sa iba, you zero in on the slapping. How about those people who were injured? How about the policeman na tinamaan ng indian pana sa ulo pati sa paa? How about his human rights?" he asked.

He also noted that there is no such thing as a writ of demolition at the expense of lives. "There is no mandate how majestic it is na sheriff, go ahead and demolish whatever the cost even if you have to kill using government people and police," he said.

Villagers were reportedly assaulting the demolition team and their police escorts before then mayor Sara Duterte arrived...

Before she arrived at the demolition site, villagers had already tried driving away the demolition team and the police escorts, throwing stones and sharp objects at them.

Assaulting court officials and police officers is a serious criminal offense.