How Dutertes manage to cling to power for over 30 years in Davao City

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READ: Part 1: Why does Duterte remain popular, influential in Davao City?

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – This 2025 elections, the Duterte family does not only want to retain their grip on their bailiwick Davao City, they also seek to tighten it by securing key seats in the local political arena.

Five members of the Duterte dynasty are seeking posts this year.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte, who’s detained in The Hague, Netherlands over his crimes against humanity case with the International Criminal Court (ICC), is seeking a comeback as Davao City mayor. His son, incumbent mayor Sebastian, is his running mate.

Paolo, Duterte’s eldest, is seeking his final and third term as Davao City 1st district lawmaker.

Even Duterte’s grandchildren have joined the race. Barangay Buhangin Proper chairperson Omar Vincent is seeking the Davao City 2nd congressional district seat, while his younger brother, Rodrigo II or Rigo, is running for councilor. Omar Vincent and Rigo are Paolo’s children with former wife Lovelie Sangkola.

The Duterte political family tree. Visualization by DR Castuciano/Rappler

Paolo’s wife, January Navares, is currently the chairperson of Barangay Catalunan Grande and the concurrent president of the association of barangay captains, so she has the mandate of a city councilor. Vice President Sara Duterte is the incumbent second highest official of the land.

If all of the Duterte bets win, a total of seven members of their dynasty will be in politics. This “obese” dynasty will have elected officials from barangay up to the national level. They will also have control over key positions in Davao City — from mayor, to vice mayor, to some council seats — even up to two of the city’s three congressional districts.

For experts, the “Duterte Magic” or the family’s brand of politics resonates to this day because of Duterte’s successful establishment of the family’s dynasty.

Rise of the strongman

Duterte did not come from an ordinary family. Duterte’s father, Cebuano lawyer Vicente, was a post-war politician who was appointed acting mayor of Danao, Cebu in January 1946. He later became governor of the then-undivided Davao province.

The late governor married Soledad Roa and had kids, including the former president. Duterte’s mother was later known as “Nanay Soling,” a civic leader and a staunch supporter of former president Corazon Aquino in Davao City.

Through Soledad, Duterte secured a job as a prosecutor after his mother talked to former Davao City mayor Elias Lopez, who had connections with the then-Ministry of Justice, according to Ruy Elias Lopez, son of the late mayor. Since the Dutertes and Lopezes were allies, the late mayor Lopez obliged and helped the then-neophyte lawyer Duterte.

The downfall of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos paved the way for Duterte to enter politics.

“Nanay Suling…was recognized by Cory as a leader of the anti-Marcos. And I think they said that Cory offered her the position of vice mayor…. So maybe Nanay Suling felt that she was already old and advised Cory to appoint her son Rodrigo as vice mayor. But Digong, I think, had no participation at all in the anti-Marcos movement in Davao,” Konsensya Dabaw and former activist Malou Abella Lopez told Rappler.

After serving as acting vice mayor, Duterte ran and won his first mayoral election in 1988. According to Ruy, his father fielded Duterte as their candidate with a strong backing from the Lopezes.

“And there was a system for the campaign for Duterte that my father brought. He had the backing of the first district, second district, third district — the entire Davao City. Everybody knows that here in Davao City,” Ruy said.

Building his own dynasty

If Duterte wins as mayor this year, Davao City will be under the family for another three years or 37 years in total. Only a Duterte has held the mayoralty post since 1988, except from 1998 to 2001 when Benjamin de Guzman was the city chief.

Duterte served as mayor for multiple terms: 1988 to 1998, 2001 to 2010, and 2013 to 2016. His two children — Sara and Sebastian — followed in his footsteps. Vice President Sara served from 2010 to 2013, then 2016 to 2022, and her brother, from 2022 up to the present.

According to local political analyst Ramon Beleno III, Ruy, and Malou, Duterte’s experience with De Guzman made him realize that he didn’t want the mayoralty post to go to anyone else but a Duterte. De Guzman used to be Duterte’s staunch ally — he was his vice mayor — but De Guzman went against Duterte in the 2001 mayoralty race.

MAYORS. The list of Davao City mayors. Photo by Davao City government

“So he thought how can he continue his brand of leadership, the quality of service he provides to Davao City if he cannot trust the people surrounding him. So I guess, that’s when he thought of pulling Vice President Sara into politics,” Beleno explained.

Ruy recalled how he opposed Duterte’s plan to make Sara, a lawyer with no experience in politics back then, his running mate in the 2007 elections. He said he warned Duterte about its possible implications for governance, particularly on checks and balances, because if Rodrigo was the mayor, it would be the vice mayor, his daughter, who would preside over the council. The council was supposed to check on the excesses of the mayor.

Duterte refused to listen, so Ruy walked away from their friendship forged by years of their political alliance.

“And then I said, ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ And then I told Digong, ‘That’s what you’ll do.’ I said I cannot go with him anymore because I cannot bring the name of my father to that kind of politics. My father’s legacy would be tarnished,” Ruy said.

In 2010, late former speaker Prospero Nograles and Ruy teamed up to challenge the Dutertes and their allies. That year, Nograles lost the mayoralty race to Vice President Sara, while Ruy failed to reclaim his post as Davao City 3rd district representative; Duterte ally Isidro Ungab won.

Duterte biographer Earl Parreño said in his book, Beyond Will and Power, that the former president’s 2010 victory “sealed Duterte’s hold on Davao City politics.”

2025 as tough turf war

There has been a resurgence of a turf war in Davao City, courtesy again of the Dutertes and the Nograleses. This time, it’s everyone against the Dutertes.

The 2025 polls won’t be a walk in the park for the Duterte dynasty because they turned against their long-time allies, and even against rivals they had already mended fences with. Old and formidable Davao City dynasties — Nograleses, Garcias, and Al-Ags — have teamed up to challenge the Dutertes’ hold on the city.

Karlo Nograles, Duterte’s former Cabinet secretary and acting spokesperson, is facing him in the mayoralty race. The Dutertes and Nograleses had already mended ties after Duterte’s 2016 election as president. Karlo was given key posts, and Paolo Duterte later took over Karlo’s post in the 1st district in 2019.

In the vice mayoral race, former vice mayor Bernie Al-Ag is running against Sebastian. Karlo’s younger sister, Margarita Nograles Almario, is facing Paolo in the 1st district race with development worker Mags Maglana.

Davao City councilor Javi Garcia Campos, a fourth-generation politician from the Garcia dynasty, is trying to ward off Paolo’s son, Omar Vincent, in the 2nd district. In the third district, Wilberto Al-Ag, Bernie’s brother, is facing Duterte ally and incumbent lawmaker Ungab in the congressional race along with Ruy, who’s seeking a congressional comeback.

Test for ‘Duterte Magic’

While the rest of his family is facing a tough battle in the polls, Duterte is locked away in Europe. Vice President Sara has an impending impeachment trial and if convicted, she will forever be barred from holding public office. This situation could be problematic for the Dutertes.

“The Duterte magic is really anchored on the patriarch, the [former] mayor Digong, and then the rest, just follow,” Beleno said.

“I think with Sara, it was easier to transfer the quote-unquote power because Sara was also, in a way, copying her dad. Although Sara is a woman, she also clung to that patriarchal, strong force, strongman agenda. And in terms of optics, she’s also very good at using the language of her father,” local anthropologist Amiel Lopez explained.

The influence of Rodrigo Duterte and daughter Sara did not automatically trickle down to family members. For one, Beleno said Davaoeños do not see Paolo as possessing the same “leadership traits” that his father and younger sister have. This could also be the reason, according to Beleno, why Duterte chose Sara to be the mayor after he ended his term, even though Paolo is the eldest child.

Sebastian, meanwhile, is also seen to be deficient in “leadership” skills. Amiel said Sebastian was given a chance to prove himself during the pandemic as vice mayor, “but he was not that equipped and capable enough to lead.”

“The two sons (Paolo and Sebastian) are not the same as the father: the charm, the way the father would speak. They tried to copy how the father would speak, the charisma of the father, how the father would try to deal with the people. But they failed to do it, they’re far from Duterte,” Beleno said.

“I think that’s the reason why former president Digong needed to run as mayor because if the two sons are really influential, there’s no more point for Digong to run due to his age, health, and of course, his ICC case. But many were surprised when he filed his candidacy. This is because they need to establish the brand of leadership that Davaoeños cannot see from the sons,” he added.

Duterte’s detention in The Hague could actually be advantageous for the family, according to experts.

“Politically speaking, [the situation], it’s helping them…I think because of what happened from different protests, prayer rallies, it even solidified the vote because they’re using that concept of a Mindanao vote and regionalism. And even now, the nationalism. It’s us against you,” Amiel explained.

Whether the so-called “Duterte Magic” will hold in the upcoming midterm polls bears watching. The verdict on the family that has been ruling them for over three decades will be determined by the votes cast by Dabawenyos. – Rappler.com

*Quotes were translated into English for brevity