Sebastian Duterte likely to become Davao City vice mayor again

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The younger Duterte is likely to defeat three other bets in the race, including former Davao City vice mayor Bernie Al-Ag

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Outgoing Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte is headed for reelection as the city’s vice mayor. He joins his father Rodrigo Duterte who is also poised to win as mayor.

Based on partial unofficial results sourced from the Comelec Media Server as of 10:21 pm on Monday, May 12, Baste Duterte is leading with 606,566 votes. This constitutes 60.26% of votes cast. His opponent Bernie Al-Ag got only 7.36% of the vote cast, equivalent to 74,054 votes.

The younger Duterte is leading on Monday, May 12, three other bets in the race, including former Davao City vice mayor Bernie Al-Ag.

This will be Duterte’s second non-consecutive term as vice mayor. The Duterte son first threw his hat into the political ring in 2019, when he ran and won as vice mayor.

Vice President Sara Duterte’s campaign in 2022 paved the way for her brother to run and win as mayor. For 2025, he did not seek reelection as mayor, but slid down to the second highest post in the city to give way to his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who sought a mayoral comeback.

The Duterte patriarch is currently detained in The Hague, Netherlands over a crimes against humanity case pending with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The case stemmed from Duterte’s alleged kill orders carried out by his so-called Davao Death Squad that resulted in nearly 30,000 deaths in his brutal war against drugs. A confirmation of charges hearing has been scheduled by the ICC’s pre-trial chamber on September 23.

Baste is winning over Al-Ag, who used to be a stalwart of the Duterte-led Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP). The optometrist entered politics as Davao City 3rd District councilor in 2016, then became the vice mayor after then-vice mayor Paolo Duterte resigned in 2017.

In 2019, Al-ag announced his supposed retirement from politics after HNP chose Sebastian as the running mate of then-mayor Sara.

Meanwhile, Duterte’s other rival, Rhodora Barcena is a religious leader in Davao City also listed as the administrator of the Love Philippines Movement. She is a registered midwife.

Marcos Alcebar, the other vice mayoral bet, was an independent candidate. – Rappler.com