Proudly Bisaya, proudly DDS? How Facebook groups fuel Duterte devotion in Cebu

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Last of 2 parts
READ: Part 1 | The Bisaya stronghold: How Cebu became ‘Duterte country’

CEBU, Philippines – Duterte’s hold on Davao is no surprise. After all, he was mayor for more than two decades, a presence as familiar as the streets themselves. What jolts the eye, though, is Cebu: a vote-rich province he never ruled, yet one where his influence remains visible.

“Over the past three years, people have realized that their lives were better during the Duterte administration…. This shows that Cebu is still a Duterte country,” Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro told ANC in an interview days after her victory in the 2025 midterm elections.

Across the province, nine Duterte-backed senatorial candidates dominated the polls, while prayer rallies and unity marches turned streets into a living shrine to a leader whose reach no prison could contain.

Speaking after one of these rallies, Duterte ally Senator Bong Go, who topped the votes in Cebu, declared in Cebuano, “We will not stop until he can return! Thank you so much for your support and trust in Tatay Digong. He was just doing his job for the Filipino people!”

This enduring base of Duterte in Cebu highlights how deeply his narrative has penetrated the public consciousness, creating a stronghold of support that continues to shape local political dynamics.

Bishop’s blessing

Online, Duterte’s presence has been amplified by religious and digital networks. A September 2024 video of Bishop Efren Perez praising Duterte for “instilling fear among politicians” and preventing corruption resurfaced after the former president’s March 2025 arrest. 

By September 2025, the video had amassed over 19 million views, 352,000 shares and 472,000 reactions, circulating widely in Cebuano Facebook groups. One such group is Barug Sugbo Updates, with over 119,000 members. Though it promotes itself as a civic space for Cebu’s progress, it has also become a channel for pro-Duterte content.

The reposted sermon in mid-2025 drew more than 1.6 million views, with comments filled with nostalgia for Duterte’s presidency and support for Bishop Perez’s message.

“It’s true, most drug addicts changed their ways…and we could walk the streets safely during Pres. Du30’s time,” said one top comment.

The video was also shared in other Cebu-based groups like Rodrigo Duterte Supporters Cebu and Senior Citizens of Cebu City, often accompanied by images of Duterte with the slogan “Bring back FPRRD Home,” portraying his ICC arrest as unjust exile.

Roots of support

Analysts say the roots of this enduring support go beyond simple devotion. Regletto Aldrich Imbong, UP Cebu political science professor, told Rappler that Duterte’s rise was shaped by the failures of post-EDSA regimes that promised reforms but failed to deliver.

“How he styled himself as anti-oligarch, anti-drugs, anti-US, etc. was all informed by the old failures of the previous regimes, failures which, until Duterte’s national prominence, have not been fully brought to popular consciousness and scrutiny,” Imbong said.

For Imbong, describing Cebu’s attachment to Duterte as mere loyalty is misleading. “It would be naive to simply describe the phenomenon as loyalty,” he said. “There were economic, political, and social conditions which Duterte was able to exploit and from which he curated a style of leadership that gained popular appeal.”

He added that such appeal is precarious and will eventually erode once public consciousness shifts, which is why “Duterte and his minions are hellbent and twisting popular opinion to continuously scaffold this precarious popular appeal.”

Arrest as ‘political kidnapping’

It is within this fertile ground of myth-making that Duterte’s arrest has been reframed online as an assault not just on the man, but also on the nation itself. A viral post by NewMedia, widely shared in pro-Duterte Facebook groups like Barug Sugbo Updates, has garnered over 18 million views and 124,000 reactions as of writing. 

The post frames Duterte’s transfer to The Hague as a “political kidnapping,” citing claims that he was “forcibly taken” despite the Philippines’ 2019 ICC withdrawal and the absence of any active local case.

Rappler has already fact-checked this claim as false: under Article 127.2 of the Rome Statute, the ICC retains authority to investigate crimes committed while the Philippines was still a member. The court began its preliminary examination of Duterte’s drug war in 2018, a year before the withdrawal took effect, which means the investigation remains valid. (READ: EXPLAINER: What you need to know about ICC’s jurisdiction over Duterte)

What stands out about this post is the large number of comments, many of which tag the ICC’s official Facebook page, urging the court to reconsider Duterte’s situation. 

One frequently echoed plea reads: “Please consider this clip…President Rodrigo Duterte was forced to leave his beloved country. Please bring him back to the Philippines.”

The top-liked comment, which received over 10,000 reactions as of writing, features a photo of Duterte overlaid with the text: “If he is a criminal, why do people love him so dearly?”

Photo from a comment on the viral NewMedia post

Comments from Cebuano users reflect both fury and fatalism. One comment reads: “So many demons in the Philippines. All greedy for money. The government has so much debt. That addict leader used up all the funds — Marcos. It’s so painful. When will that addict step down? The Philippines keeps getting poorer.”

Such posts and reactions reinforce a worldview where Duterte remains the last real protector, forcibly removed for standing up to the corrupt and coddling no one. Cebu Normal University political science instructor Erma Janne Cayas told Rappler that this framing endures because Duterte’s image as a strong protector resonates with many Cebuanos.

“They view leaders as amahan or fathers, and as kamay na bakal (iron fist) who should impose strict discipline,” Cayas said. 

Importantly, NewMedia positions itself as an anti-mainstream outlet, claiming its mission is to “expose the truth” allegedly buried by mainstream newsrooms. 

DECODED, a Rappler series produced with data forensics company The Nerve, reported that pro-Duterte Facebook pages reinforce this stance by framing investigations into Duterte influence operations as elitist, while promoting content supporting the Dutertes as “grassroots” reporting. (READ: [DECODED] Pro-Duterte Facebook page pits independent newsrooms vs ‘grassroots’ media)

This anti-press position adds another layer of narrative control: it delegitimizes institutional fact-checking and positions the audience within an “awakened” digital counter-public.

Cayas explained that this strategy works because pro-Duterte groups online appear more genuine than mainstream media, creating “alternative truths” that resonate with many Cebuanos. She said this fuels goodwill for Duterte, dismisses criticism as biased, and blinds Filipinos to issues like human rights violations.

“It becomes evident that being a political loyalist can blind people, sadly, not only the Cebuanos, but also many Filipinos,” Cayas said.

Inherited hatred, performed patriotism

While international debates center on justice, Cebuano Facebook groups like Barug Sugbo Updates portray Duterte’s war on drugs as a necessary campaign that restored order. 

On June 17, 2025, a post asking if the drug war had positive effects received 104 mostly supportive comments as of writing. 

Screenshot from BARUG SUGBO UPDATES Facebook group

One user said, “It helped a lot… I told my nephews if they become addicts, I will kill them myself.”

This explicit endorsement of familial violence as an extension of the drug war’s logic demonstrates how online discourse spills into everyday life. 

They echo a cultural environment shaped by the Duterte-era language of criminality and punishment. What begins as digital expression often translates into moralized and sometimes violent personal positions.

Enriquita Genares, a 68-year-old vendor on Colon Street, the oldest street in the Philippines, said she has been selling there since the dictatorship of Ferdinand E. Marcos. Having lived through multiple administrations, her measure of safety has become brutally simple.

“Those who died were all drug addicts. They really deserved to be killed,” Genares told Rappler in Cebuano.

This view reflects a culture of normalized violence that politicians can tap into. UP Cebu political science professor Weena Gera said Vice President Sara Duterte continues to use a populist message of being “pro-people and anti-elite,” echoing her father’s style.

“If she can exploit a political discourse that can well separate her from the flailing Marcos Jr. regime, or conjure a conspiratorial narrative to present Duterte Sr. and the Duterte clan as the ultimate victims of the system run by their rivals,” Gera told Rappler, “Sara may just be able to galvanize broader mass anger and support for her potential presidential run.”

In Cebu, the war on drugs didn’t just take lives, it also reshaped faith. Justice may have sent Duterte to The Hague, but in the streets, in the stories people tell, he never really left. And now, who knows, maybe his daughter will pick up where he left off. – Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU). An Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2025, she is also the feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.