Mayor Duterte got furious when the sheriff did not obey her order of having the demolition postponed in 2 hours since she was attending another problem in another area - the sheriff ordered his team to start the demolition right away, instead which caused tension between the residents and the police officers.
When Mayor Duterte arrived in the area, she reprimanded the team since a number of people were hurt in the demolition. She then asked the sheriff to come near her before punching him in the face, repeatedly. The mayor was blaming the sheriff on people being hurt.
ABS-CBN News was there to cover and was able to capture the incident on cam.
In a TV Patrol report, Andres said he'll leave the decision to the national association of sheriffs and added that he had forgiven the mayor. Mayor Duterte, on the other hand, said bringing the sheriff to the hospital was enough for a sorry.
Meanwhile, at the moment, the two ("Mayor Duterte" and "Sheriff") are trending on Twitter. Here are what people are saying in the microblogging site:
"Just goes to show that people in Mindanao are good boxers. Pacquiao and Mayor Duterte LOL" -@bebejedko
"whatever mayor duterte's reasons are, still, she should have not done that. public servants must be a good example to their constituents." -@dqrivera
"Mayor Duterte's violence is shocking and unpardonable for a city executive. She does know how to put on a show!" -@blogie
"From what Mayor Duterte said, she wasn't against demolition. She requested the leeway so she could personally ensure it didn't turn violent." -@anjo_bagaoisan
"for those condemning Mayor Duterte's punching, better understand the whole situation first on why she punched that dumbass "sheriff" -@migswagger
Here's a video of Mayor Duterte punching the sheriff, courtesy of "ANCalerts" of Youtube: