IN ONE FRAME In this 2016 photo, the children of then President Rodrigo Duterte—Sara, Paolo and Sebastian— take a selfie with their father in the background in Malacañang.
DAVAO CITY—As the local campaign starts, the powerful Duterte dynasty will begin to feel the crippling absence of its leaders as their crucial battle for political survival unfolds.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is seeking to retake Davao City’s mayoral seat, will miss the campaign trail as he languishes in Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, the Netherlands, while awaiting the next stage of his case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for murder as a crime against humanity.
His arrest on March 11, through a warrant from the ICC served by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), was linked to the thousands of deaths from his brutal war on drugs from 2011 to 2019, during his terms as Davao City mayor and president of the Philippines.
READ: Rodrigo Duterte marks 80th birthday in ICC detention
The only public event when Duterte made a pitch for his mayoral bid and that of son Sebastian’s candidacy for vice mayor was during a gift-giving activity in December last year at their ancestral home here.
During that time, he asked his supporters not to abandon their family as “we have not done you any wrong.”
ICC custody
The former president’s eldest son, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte of the first district, who is running for reelection, is widely expected to be in The Hague in time for their patriarch’s 80th birthday on March 28.
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His sisters, Vice President Sara Duterte and Veronica Duterte, the former president’s daughter with partner Honeylet Avanceña, are already in the Netherlands.
The Vice President traveled to the Netherlands on March 12, the day after the former president was arrested upon arriving from Hong Kong, and then flew to The Hague to be surrendered to ICC custody.
Paolo earlier sought authority from the leadership of the House of Representatives to travel to 16 countries in two months. If such a travel plan pushes through, he will be away during the entire campaign period.
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Vice President Duterte has vowed to return to the country after she completes organizing her father’s legal team that will take care of the processes with the ICC. such as seeking his interim release before the confirmation of charges hearing on Sept. 23.
‘Future leaders’
Until the Vice President returns, the role of holding the fort for the Duterte clan, which is starting to transfer power to its second-generation members, falls into the hands of incumbent Mayor Sebastian Duterte.
Apart from the former president and his two sons, two of his grandsons, both sons of Paolo, are seeking elective office on May 12. Last December, he introduced them to the public as “future leaders” of Davao.
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Omar, currently the village chief of Buhangin Proper, is running for representative of the city’s second congressional district, while Rodrigo II, or Rigo, is seeking a city council seat in the first district.
A Duterte has ruled the city since 1988, except from 1998 to 2001, when Rodrigo took a House seat representing the second district after completing three terms as mayor.
For this year’s mayoral race, the former president’s closest rival is former Civil Service Commission Chair Karlo Nograles, son of the late former Speaker Prospero Nograles, his main political rival.
Paolo is being challenged by Nograles’ sister, Margarita Ignacia, who is the incumbent representative of the party list group Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta.
But the former president’s absence in the campaign kickoff would be compensated by the expected participation of thousands of supporters in Mindanao and the rest of the world for the planned “Global Tribute to Tatay Digong” in time for his 80th birthday today.
Birthday celebration
Activities are planned in at least 40 sites in Mindanao, especially in the cities of Davao, Cotabato, Iligan and Cagayan de Oro to show solidarity to the former president.
The activities are also expected to express indignation for the alleged excesses in arresting and hauling the former president to The Hague, and for his supposed illegal arrest.
“This is not about choosing sides among the Marcoses, Dutertes or Kakampinks factions in society. It is about going for what is good for our nation’s sovereignty, democracy, development and progress,” former Davao City Councilor Mabel Acosta wrote on social media. —REPORTS FROM RYAN ROSAURO, JOSELLE BADILLA AND LEAH AGONOY