RESIDENTS of a sleepy town in northern Cebu can hardly contain their excitement.
Everyone is busy preparing for their fiesta on Sunday that will be graced by the country’s most powerful man: President Duterte.
Mayor Zigfred Duterte of Tabogon town noticed that employees tapped to put together the program during the fiesta were more inspired to work due to the guest of honor.
Even relatives who seldom went home during fiestas decided to attend on Sunday because they all wanted to see their famous relative.
“Now, the fiesta will become a mini-reunion for our family,” said Zigfred.
The mayor, a distant relative of the President, has been tagged as the doppelgänger of Mr. Duterte in Cebu.
They don’t just look alike but they also dress alike.
Like the President, Zigfred also loves to wear checkered, buttoned down shirts with short sleeves — something the mayor loved to wear even before Mr. Duterte was elected into office.
Zigfred said he invited the President to their fiesta so they would meet since they were relatives.
When his invitation was accepted, the town went into a frenzy.
“Makita nako nga excited kay first time moadto ang Presidente. Unya ang Tabogon kay only a third-class municipality (I can see that the people are
really excited to see the President for the first time. And to think, Tabogon is only a third-class municipality),” said Senior Insp. Welther Grapa, chief of Tabogon Police Station.
President Duterte was expected to be in Tabogon around 2 p.m. on Sunday and would join the festivities at the town’s covered court in Barangay Poblacion.
He would be joined by Zigfred and Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of Cebu’s 4th district.
But President Duterte would already be in Cebu on Saturday.
He would lead the ceremonial commencement of the oil and gas production in the mountain barangay of Montpeller in Alegria town of southwestern Cebu around 3 p.m.
The President would be accompanied by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and representatives from the China International Mining and Petroleum Company (CIMP), the Chinese oil exploration firm that the Department of Energy (DOE) has partnered with to start production of the on-shore gas and oil mining site in the town.
Two hours later, he will be traveling to Cebu City, about 115 km north of Alegria town, to attend the opening ceremonies of the Philippine National Games 2018 at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The next day, on Sunday, he would travel to Tabogon, about 85 km north of Cebu City, to attend the fiesta in celebration of the feast of their patron saint, San Isidro Labrador.
The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) would deploy at least 1,000 policemen in areas where the President would visit.
“We have a very elaborate security preparations for the President,” said Chief Supt. Robert Quenery, PRO-7 director.
“Malimit naman yung pagpunta niya dito so more or less we know kung paano maglatag ng ating security (He comes here often so we already know how to lay down our security preparations),” said Quenery.
He added there was no problem with the deployment since they were already in full alert status since the election period.
But there was one person who was hoping to meet the President during his two-day visit: Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot.
“I hope I’ll be given the chance to meet the President so that I can tell the truth once and for all. If given the chance, I’ll be bringing the report from the CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) that cleared my name,” Loot said.
Loot and his family members survived an ambush last May 13 when armed men fired at the pump boat they were riding while it was docking at the port in Barangay Maya in Daanbantayan.
Loot has been identified by President Duterte as among those allegedly protecting illegal drugs operation — an allegation that the retired police general has strongly denied.