DOPPELGANGER. Wearing an orange checkered shirt, the reelected Tabogon mayor doesn’t only share the same family name as President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, he also looks like him and moves like him. (CDN PHOTO/JOSE SANTINO S. BUNACHITA)
THERE is another “Mayor Duterte” in the country aside from Davao City Mayor and President-elect Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte. And he is in Cebu.
Not only that, Mayor Zigfred Povadora Duterte, of the northern Cebu town of Tabogon, is the doppelganger of the more famous Duterte and yesterday donned an orange checkered button down shirt, similar to the red one that was always seen being worn by the incoming president.
Duterte said the President is his third degree uncle. His grandfather Ignacio Duterte, he said, was the first degree cousin of Digong’s father Vicente.
“They really have a lot of expectations especially since I’m the mayor of Tabogon. They expect that since we have the same family name, they really expect a lot from us in terms of public service and projects,” he told reporters when he visited the office of Gov. Hilario Davide III yesterday.
Duterte, 45, started his career in politics as a municipal councilor of Tabogon in 2007. In 2013, he ran as mayor and won. He will serve his second term starting on June 30.
Zigfred said his line of Duterte comes from the southern town of Ginatilan in Cebu. He ended up in Tabogon since his mother is from the town.
He recalled that the first time he talked with President Digong was at the Capitol in 2013, when the Davao mayor visited Cebu after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Cebu and Bohol provinces.
“He (Digong) was giving financial assistance of P500,000 to the towns in Bohol affected by the earthquake. In Cebu, Tabogon was the only town he included in the giving of the financial assistance, even if it’s far from the center of the earthquake,” said Duterte, who is a licensed customs broker.
The next time they met, he said, was at the Cebu Grand Convention Center already during the campaign period for the May 2016 elections.
Zigfred said that some people are now urging him that once President Duterte has taken office, he should go to Malacañang to try to solicit support and other favors from the President. But he said he has no plan to do so unless there is an absolute need to ask for a project for his town.
Not as tactless
Asked how he would differentiate himself from the tough-talking president, the mayor did not hesitate in saying that he is not as “tactless” as the President and that he thinks first before saying what he wants to say.
Unlike the President, who had acknowledged his past womanizing ways, Zigfred said he has only one wife.
On his fashion statement of wearing checkered shirts, Zigred said it has been his style for a very long time, even before President Duterte was famously seen wearing checkered shirts.
He said that in Cebu, there are only four areas where there are Dutertes: Cebu City, the towns of Ginatilan and San Fernando and Danao City, where the president traces his roots.
Zigfred said that with a Duterte now going to run the country, the more reason that he should protect the family name that he carries.
“It’s much better if you’re friends with him and you have different family names. Because if you’re both Duterte, the more that you should be careful. He is very particular about our family name. You really have to have dignity. With the Duterte family name, dapat dili ka barumbado (you should not be ill-mannered),” he said.
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