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His Royal Highness, King Rody of Davao


INDISPENSABLE? Mayor Rodrigo Duterte says he decided to allow his daughter Sara to run for mayor for fear that traditional politicians will mess up the city. (davaotoday.com photo by Carlos H. Conde)

He has said before that he would not build a political dynasty. But recently, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, according to this report, changed his mind. He said he would ask his daughter Sara to run as his vice mayor in next year’s election to make sure that no traditional politician (read: former ally turned arch rival Benjamin de Guzman) would rule the city after him.

Sounding every bit like a king bequeathing the throne to his child, Duterte reportedly said: “I have been running this city alone for the past many years and whether I like it or not, I will retire. My father has left me a leadership and this I performed with the utmost desire to bring the people of Davao only the best.”

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2006: The Economics of Hype

2006: Davao Today's Year-End Series

Administration propaganda one-sidedly presents growth, peso appreciation, lower public deficits and foreign investments as if these were development ends in themselves. But the deteriorating social conditions of joblessness, hunger and poverty are the sharpest rebuttal of any government economic hype.

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A Step Forward in Wage Fight, Amid Repression and Violence

2006: Davao Today's Year-End Series

The approval of the P125 wage increase bill by the Lower House is welcome news for workers, who could use even just a little relief from soaring prices of basic goods and services amid rock-bottom income. It is a gain that came at the price of trade union repression and political killings that victimized labor leaders among others.

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The End of Saddam Hussein

Internet denizens can’t seem to get enough of the video showing Saddam Hussein being executed. The video is now the most searched item on the web. The first video we’re showing here is composed of clips of Saddam Hussein and his execution yesterday. It was made more interesting (and artistic) by a YouTube user named Zelch.

The next clip is a “Blair Witch Project”-type video, complete with sounds of the purported hanging. Although it does not show the actual moment that Saddam falls through the trapdoor, it does have shots of his lifeless body after the hanging. Pretty grim.

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