The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has tossed the ball to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to determine who will exercise the functions of Davao City Mayor.

The jurisdiction of the Comelec is to proclaim who won in the elections, it is up to the DILG to say who will exercise the functions of mayor of Davao City, while former President Rodrigo Duterte is detained in The Hague, Comelec spokesperson Atty. John Rex Laudiangco said.

“We’ll leave that to the DILG,” Laudiangco told reporters.

Duterte was proclaimed the winner of the mayoral race in Davao City, defeating his former Secretary of the Cabinet, Karlo Nograles.

However, he is detained on crimes against humanity charges in the International Criminal Court prison in connection with the killings under his administration’s war on drugs.

Laudiangco said detained candidates may still be proclaimed as winners as long as there are no orders from the court or the Comelec to suspend their proclamation.

“Wala po tayong natatanggap na order from any court or from the commission na hindi dapat maproclaim,” Laudiangco said.

“So ang rule po natin regardless po kung si former President Duterte, lahat ng kandidato, kung walang order ng suspension of proclamation at ikaw ang nanalo, ipo-proclaim ka ng boards [of canvassers],” he added.

Laudiangco said the physical presence of the winning candidates was not required during proclamations as the raising of hands was only “symbolic and ceremonial.”

Earlier, the Board of Canvassers in Davao City proclaimed Duterte as the winner of the mayoral race after a landslide victory with 662,630 votes.

Vice President Sara Duterte said that lawyers had been discussing the next steps should he win the elections.