The Dutertes are a family of public servants

Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte had been a public servant long before he became the officer-in-charge of Davao City after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. 

 

After all, he came from a political family. His father, Vicente Duterte, was governor of a then undivided Davao. And before that, Duterte’s father also served as the mayor of Danao City in Cebu.

 

 

Duterte's mother Soledad Roa Duterte, or Nanay Soling, led the yellow movement in Davao during the Martial Law period. She also fought for the rights of the indigenous peoples, a cause that her son Rodrigo also took up when he became mayor.

 

“I miss her, always,” Rodrigo Duterte said of his mother, who died two years ago at the age of 96.

 

His attachment to his mother became evident when it became likely that he had won the presidential elections, the tough-talking mayor wailed at his mother's tomb, “Ma, tabangi ko [Ma, help me].”

 

Footsteps

 

Given the pedigree, it was not surprising that Duterte’s children followed in his footsteps.

 

Paolo Duterte is now on his second term as the vice mayor of Davao City.

 

Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is also a lawyer, is also going to serve another term as mayor of Davao City. Before that, she served as her father's vice mayor.

 

“Nakita ko iyong trabaho niya, from nine years old ako hanggang ngayon," said Sarah Duterte. "Mabilis na akong mag-decide kung may issue may problema, parang second nature ko na.”

 

Duterte has two more children: Sebastian Duterte and Veronica, his 12-year-old daughter with his partner Honeylet Avanceña. — Trisha Macas/DVM, GMA News