DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 June) – There was no inaugural address on Monday, June 30, the start of the 2025-2028 administration supposedly led by Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who won an 8th term as Davao City mayor. Instead, City Hall proceeded with its usual flag ceremony quietly, with no Duterte in sight, not even Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, the outgoing mayor and elected Vice Mayor who was to assume the post of Acting Mayor by 12:01 noon. The Duterte patriarch was arrested on March 11 and flown to The Hague in the Netherlands, where he has been detained to face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court. He won by a landslide on May 12, securing 662,630 votes, was proclaimed winner by the Commission on Elections on May 13, but has yet to take his oath and submit his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures. Vicky Sarcena, director for Davao City field operations of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG), told reporters Monday morning that since Mayor-Elect Duterte has not taken his oath, “effective 12:01 noon, Sebastian Duterte, the vice-mayor, will be the acting mayor.” Vice Mayor Duterte and elected councilors took their oath of office on June 27 at the Sangguniang Panlungsod. At the flag ceremony attended by city government employees, the speaker, Atty. Mark Peñalver, Executive Director of the non-governmental environment group, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), announced the opening of the 11th Lunhaw Awards—an annual event that promotes sustainable practices across the city. He encouraged barangays in Davao to spearhead green initiatives in anticipation of Lunhaw Month this September. “We are looking for outstanding local government units with environmental initiatives that are barangay-led,” Peñalver explained. “Meaning, this is applicable to our barangays.” The absence of an inauguration of the city’s chief executive did not seem to bother those who attended the flag ceremony. Employees from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) responded casually when asked about it, many of them saying, “Ah, yung oath-taking niaging semana ra man to” (Oh, the oath-taking happened last week). Sebastian Duterte delivered his inaugural address last Friday, after the oath-taking, as Vice Mayor. (Marithe Franchesca Lalican and Zoe Hontiveros, MindaNews interns)
