Duterte has 15 days to accept or reject son Paolo’s resignation

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that President Rodrigo Duterte has 15 working days to act on the resignation of son Paolo Duterte as the Vice Mayor of Davao City.

Citing the local government code, Roque said on Thursday, December 28, that if the 15 days lapse without the President’s action, Paolo Duterte’s resignation will be deemed accepted.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said her brother has sent his resignation letter  to Malacañang via courier on December 26.

The 15-day period will start upon the President’s receipt of the resignation letter. Roque said he was not sure whether the President has received the letter, and said he has not had the chance to personally ask the President about the issue.

“That’s 15 days plus the many holidays like the 25th and the 16th,” Roque said, adding that the effectivity might come in the first quarter of January 2018.

The younger Duterte resigned on Christmas Day in a speech delivered before a special session of the city council, which was supposed to discuss the proposal to release Davao City’s calamity funds for the victims of disasters.

Paolo Duterte cited as his reasons the “recent unfortunate events in my life closely tied to my failed first marriage” to Lovelie Sumera. Paolo recently had a fight over social media with Isabelle, his teen daughter with Sumera.

Paolo Duterte also cited his being dragged into the P6.4 billion drug shipment scandal at the Bureau of Customs, where his name was supposedly dropped by fixers belonging to the so-called ‘Davao Group.’

The resigned vice mayor has been cleared  by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. But the Office of the Ombudsman has launched its own separate investigation that targets public officials, mentioning the Davao Group in its statement released to media. – Rappler.com