PLACE ME HERE. During his visit to his parents’ tomb on All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte says he wants to be buried beside his parents, former Governor Vicente Duterte and Soledad Duterte inside the family’s mausoleum at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Davao City. (Zea Io Ming C. Capistrano/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said there is no greater honor than to be buried next to his parents and not at the Heroes’ Cemetery.
“Susmaryosep, kanila na yan. Pagtalunin pa tayo dyan (They can have that. We might even have disputes because of that),” Duterte said when asked if he would be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City during his visit to his parents’ tomb at the Roman Catholic Cemetery here late Tuesday night.
“As a matter of fact, it will be a terrible thing to be buried (there),” he added.
He said: “The greatest honor that a man can have in his lifetime is to be considered buried beside from where he came from. Walang pinaka, mas honor para sa akin kundi tatabi ako sa nanay pati tatay ko (The greatest honor for me is to be beside my mother and father).”
He said he’d rather be place in a small corner beside his mother, Soledad.
“Dito na lang, lagay mo ako sa kanto (Just here, place me in the corner),” he said, showing to reporters a small spot below his mother’s picture.
Duterte’s scheduled visit at the cemetery, where the remains of his father, former Governor Vicente Duterte and mother Soledad, lie, was initially cancelled due to heavy rains.
Around 6:00 pm Tuesday, a staff of the Media Accreditation and Relations Office announced the call off of the scheduled visit to the members of the press waiting at the Roman Catholic Cemetery. The staff said the message came from Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go.
Despite the cancellation, some of Duterte’s supporters came back to see him. Duterte arrived around 10 p.m. with his youngest son, Sebastian Duterte.
The President stayed for a while, answering questions from the media and meeting some of his supporters. (davaotoday.com)
