‘Baste’ likely to sit as acting mayor of Davao City
DAVAO CITY—While there is no word yet if former President Rodrigo Duterte, currently detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) facility in The Hague in the Netherlands, can take his oath as mayor of this city, people are still waiting up to noon today, June 30, if he will be allowed to do so.
But if the former president fails to do so, it will be the first time for this city to have an absent mayor at the helm of the city government.
In all likelihood, his son Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who won as vice mayor, will assume his father’s post as acting mayor of Davao City, Vice President Sara Duterte told reporters after the oath-taking ceremony of new city officials here on Friday.
The Vice President said she did not know anything about the decision and the challenges faced by lawyers over why her father still failed to take his oath until now, adding that they never had any discussion about it.
The former president has been facing charges of crimes against humanity before the ICC for his bloody drug war that had killed thousands since he served as mayor of Davao City until the end of his term as president.
“We don’t have any discussion about his absence, maybe, it was already expected because of his situation right now, he is currently detained, there’s no other feeling except accepting the fact that he’d not be present in this oath-taking,” the Vice President said on Friday.
She added: “The former president and Mayor-elect Rodrigo Duterte has until noon of June 30 to take his oath [but] in the event that he does not take his oath, it will be Vice Mayor [Sebastian] Baste [Duterte] who will be the acting mayor,” she said.
She also said it was not very likely that the Department of the Interior and Local Government, whose role was merely ministerial, would take any steps to let his father take his oath.
But the Vice President criticised Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla for admitting that the country’s justice system failed the victims of extrajudicial killings. “Is that an admission that the justice system is not functioning?” Duterte asked.
Full force
The Dutertes came in full force during the oath-taking ceremonies here that had members of the family taking the helm of all of the most important government positions: with the former president as mayor, youngest son Baste as the vice mayor, eldest son Paolo as congressional representative in the city’s first district, and Paolo’s son Omar as representative in the city’s second congressional district.
If Baste were to take over as acting mayor, the one who would take his place would be the city councilor who garnered the most number of votes, which would be the former president’s grandson and namesake Rodrigo II, another son of Paolo.
Since Paolo’s wife, January Duterte, is also the president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) in the city, she will also hold a seat in the city council as an ex-officio member representing the ABC.
Vice President Duterte on Friday continued to take a snipe at President Marcos and her critics, calling them “intellectually challenged,” even as she remained mum on the prospect of her running for president in 2028.
“It’s still too early to say who would win in the presidential race,” she said when asked whether the results of the recent midterm elections already defined her prospects in 2028.
She claimed that the results of the midterm elections in Davao City were an affirmation of the leadership of her brother, the vice mayor; and the former President.
“I hope and pray that he (Rodrigo) will take his oath because I voted for him. I wanted him to be the mayor of Davao City. That’s my prayer but we really don’t know what are the discussions between the lawyers and former President Duterte, so we wait if he takes his oath or if not, then we will have a situation when Davao City will have an acting mayor,” she said.
