{"id":11565,"date":"2025-06-20T00:55:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T23:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/?p=11565"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:46:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T10:46:14","slug":"can-rodrigo-duterte-serve-as-mayor-of-davao-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/can-rodrigo-duterte-serve-as-mayor-of-davao-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Rodrigo Duterte serve as mayor of Davao City?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s term as Davao City mayor is set to begin<\/a> on June 30, 2025 but he is still detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, awaiting his confirmation of charges hearing on September 23.<\/p>\n

The former president of the Philippines (2016-2022) secured<\/a> a landslide victory in the May 12, 2025, mayoral elections in Davao City, winning over 662,000 votes – an overwhelming 88% majority over his opponent Karlo Nograles. However, Duterte\u2019s ability to assume office and perform his duties remains uncertain due to his detention in The Hague.<\/p>\n

Duterte has been held <\/a>by the ICC since March 12, 2025, facing charges of alleged crimes against humanity related to thousands of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in relation to his so-called \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirmed<\/a> Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s victory shortly after the polls closed, but questions remain about his capacity to serve while detained.<\/p>\n

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla also said<\/a> that there will be no \u201cwork from The Hague\u201d arrangement for Duterte. \u201cHe has to be physically present in the country to fulfill his duties,\u201d Remulla said during a press briefing on May 26, 2025.<\/p>\n

Experts in election law point out<\/a> that Duterte\u2019s candidacy was never disqualified because he has not been convicted by final judgment, a key disqualifier under the Omnibus Election Code. \u201cThere is no statutory provision which would impede the exercise of a civic right by an innocent person,\u201d said<\/a> Duterte\u2019s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman.<\/p>\n

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) confirmed<\/a> that Duterte can legally take his oath of office even while in detention, referencing Section 41 of the Administrative Code. DILG Undersecretary Romeo Benitez explained<\/a> that Philippine consular officials in The Hague might administer the oath if the ICC permits.<\/p>\n

However, there is a complication<\/a>: Duterte must personally appear to take the oath, but ICC rules do not explicitly allow detainees to leave their facilities for civic duties. The ICC Registry Handbook permits detainees to participate only in programs within detention premises, not for public office functions.<\/p>\n

If Duterte cannot take his oath within six months, Section 11 of the Omnibus Election Code states<\/a> the office will be deemed vacant unless the delay is due to causes \u201cbeyond his control.\u201d In the meantime, Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s son and vice mayor-elect, Sebastian \u201cBaste\u201d Duterte, will serve<\/a> as acting mayor, as provided under the Local Government Code.<\/p>\n

Should the office become permanently vacant, Sebastian Duterte is expected to assume<\/a> full mayoral duties. Duterte\u2019s grandson, Rodrigo \u201cRigo\u201d Duterte II, who topped the city councilor votes, will then take<\/a> the position of acting vice mayor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo \u00a9 Marcelino Pascua<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s term as Davao City mayor is set to begin on June 30, 2025 but he is still detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, awaiting his confirmation of charges hearing on September 23. The former president of the Philippines (2016-2022) secured a landslide victory in the May 12, 2025, mayoral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":10951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,73,58,62,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-war-on-drugs-en","category-aktuelles-en","category-human-rights-news","category-international-institutions","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11565"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11607,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11565\/revisions\/11607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}