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The day’s occasions are half civic ritual and half political gathering, an indication that when once more turned Davao Metropolis into some form of a political mecca for the DDS
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – The morning warmth had barely lifted when it settled over downtown Davao, urgent down on a crowd that had gathered hours earlier than the parade started.
By midmorning Saturday, March 28, hundreds of Dabawenyos lined the streets for what was clearly greater than a routine constitution day celebration.
The day’s occasions have been half civic ritual and half political gathering, an indication that when once more turned Davao into some form of a political mecca for the DDS (Duterte Diehard Supporters).
The parade lasted about 5 hours, passing via Roxas Avenue earlier than ending on the San Pedro Sq., the place politicians individually gathered and took turns addressing their supporters.
This 12 months, the parade for the Araw ng Dabaw, historically held on March 16, was moved to March 28 to coincide with the 81st birthday of detained ex-president Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte served for many years as town’s mayor and constructed one in all Mindanao’s strongest political dynasties. He has been held in The Hague since March 2025, going through crimes in opposition to humanity fees on the Worldwide Legal Court docket.
By the point the parade reached San Pedro Sq., the message was clear. What was meant to be a celebration of cityhood had taken on a political tone, even because it was framed as separate from the parade, with politicians presenting it as each a tribute and a protest led by the Duterte household and their allies.
“Deliver him house,” learn banners, and comparable slogans on shirts, indicators, and streamers referred to the previous president, who has now spent over a 12 months in detention overseas.
Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, attended along with her brother, Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte, nephew Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte II, and congressional allies Isidro Ungab and Omar Duterte. On the sidelines, the Vice President instructed reporters she wished her father “one other 12 months of fine well being.”
Senator Bong Go, a longtime aide to the previous president, additionally got here together with outstanding allies of the Duterte household, which included former elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon, former Marcos govt secretary and estranged supporter Vic Rodriguez, Cavite 4th District Consultant Kiko Barzaga, Batangas 1st District Consultant Leandro Leviste, former Nationwide Youth Fee chairman Ronald Cardema, and controversial lawyer Ferdinand Topacio.
Notably absent was Senator Bato dela Rosa, the previous police chief carefully tied to Duterte’s drug conflict, who has stored a low profile for months amid discuss of a supposed arrest warrant from the ICC. He has not proven up for conferences on the Senate since 2025.
Onstage, Sebastian Duterte spoke to the group in a mixture of governance and grievance. He pushed help for his sister’s introduced 2028 presidential run whereas taking intention on the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a authorities his sister helped deliver to energy in 2022 and as soon as supported. He pointed to crime and unlawful medicine, invoking the “tradition of safety” that, he asserted, has outlined Davao since his father’s time.
The gathering on the San Pedro Sq. centered much less on Davao’s progress as a metropolis or coverage points and extra on demonstrating allegiance to the Duterte household. Teams figuring out as DDS dominated it, chanting and carrying banners calling for the return of the Duterte patriarch, displaying his continued help base at house at the same time as he stays in detention at The Hague.
The Duterte household’s supporters are additionally set on staging a “Solidarity Stroll” across the San Pedro Sq. within the afternoon to mark his 81st birthday. Organizers mentioned the exercise had nothing to do with the 89th Araw ng Dabaw celebration.
Davao was inaugurated as a chartered metropolis in 1937, following the signing of its constitution by then-president Manuel L. Quezon.
Rodrigo Duterte, a former prosecutor, started his political profession within the metropolis as officer-in-charge or performing vice mayor in 1986, following the EDSA Individuals Energy Revolution that ousted the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos. He was first elected mayor of Davao within the first post-EDSA elections through the first Aquino administration, after which rose to the presidency in 2016. – Rappler.com
