A Jesuit priest and a Protestant bishop, have come to the support of the mayor of Davao, who is being investigated for allegedly beating up a court sheriff last weekend.

“The controversy over Sara Duterte’s punching of a court sheriff in order to delay the actual demolition of homes of informal settlers in Davao’s Agdao district is a clear case where morality should be the larger consideration than legal ethics,” said Bishop Felixberto Calang of the Philippine Independent Church.

Father Joel Tabora, president of the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University, also defended Duterte’s action, saying the attack was provoked.