DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao City remains a Duterte stronghold as five Dutertes win in their respective positions. Their full city council and district representatives slate also won.
Leading by a wide margin in the mayoral race, former President Rodrigo Duterte clinched the mayoral seat with 662,630 votes, far ahead of his opponent former first district representative Karlo Nograles, who garnered 80,852 votes.
Duterte, who is currently detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity, now faces uncertainty on how he will serve his term while in detention.
His son, incumbent Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte, also received overwhelming support, garnering 651,356 votes. His rival, Councilor Bernie Al-ag, suffered a significant loss with 78,893 votes.
Baste is also set to return to the 21st City Council, joining other Hugpong candidates who scored major wins against the slate of Nograles and Cubos.
The new city council will include re-elected councilors, returning politicians, and second- to third-generation political figures from well-known families in the city.
Incumbent Vice Mayor Melchor Quitain will also return to the city council, but this time as a councilor. He secured the second-highest vote in the first district, following Rigo Duterte II, son of the former president, who topped the race with 192,324 votes.
In the House of Representatives, two Dutertes were elected. Representative Paolo Duterte secured re-election with 203,557 votes with a wide lead over his rival, PBA Party-list Representative Migs Nograles, who received 49,186 votes. The first district recorded 366,439 registered voters with a 72.75% turnout.
In the second district, incumbent Barangay Buhangin Captain Omar Duterte won the congressional seat with 160,432 votes, defeating Councilor Javi Campos of the Garcia clan, who received 90,156 votes. The second district had 332,318 registered voters, with a turnout of 78.64%.
Long-time Duterte ally Isidro Ungab also retained his seat as a re-electionist in the third district, garnering 178,721 votes. His opponents, Wilfredo ‘Nonoy’ Al-ag and Ruy Lopez, received 30,687 and 19,243 votes, respectively. The third district had 307,835 registered voters with an 80.99% turnout.
Pulong’s son and Duterte grandson, Rodrigo ‘Rigo’ II, is the top councilor as he gathered the most number of votes with 192,324 votes, a significant margin as this is his first candidacy edging veteran councilors.
With five Dutertes winning in Monday’s election, there are now six Dutertes in the local government of Davao. Pulong’s wife, January Duterte, is the current Association of Barangay Chairpersons (ABC) representative in the 20th city council. She won as barangay chair of Catalunan Grande in the 2023 barangay elections.
Adding Vice President Sara Duterte, there are now seven elected Dutertes in government.
There might be an eighth Duterte winning in this election. Harold James Duterte, first nominee of the Puwersa ng Pilipinong Pandagat (PPP) Party-list and cousin of the vice president and Duterte brothers. PPP has garnered 570,375 votes based on the Comelec Media Server and may secure him one seat in Congress.
Only the Duterte grandsons, Omar and Rigo, were present during the formal proclamation of winners by the Comelec after the final canvassing of votes held at the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Wednesday.
The overwhelming support for the Dutertes stunned the rest of the country, as the Duterte patriarch remains detained by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands standing trial for his war on drugs campaign, while Vice President Sara faces impeachment for corruption over unexplained expenses of confidential funds, bribery of government officials and threatening the president and his family.
But the Duterte victory should not be seen as a repudiation of the Marcos Jr. administration which they were previously aligned with, says political analyst Professor Antonio Contreras.
Contreras points out in his Facebook post that looking at the five Davao provinces, many of the former Duterte allies have switched to two of Marcos Jr’s parties, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas and Lakas, and secured victories in their local posts. Duterte’s strongest ally, former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, lost his bid as vice governor of Davao del Norte. Some of the political families in Davao Region were expelled by Sara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
“The Dutertes may rule in Davao City. But it looks more like a walled city surrounded by an unfriendly political landscape,” Contreras noted. (davaotoday.com)
davao city, duterte
