📸Attorney J Melchor Quitain Jr. facebook page
By Ivy Tejano
DAVAO CITY – Emotions ran high among the people of Davao on Tuesday evening, March 11, as they watched the live broadcast of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte boarding a private aircraft en route to The Hague, Netherlands.
Davaoeños began assembling for a candle-lighting ceremony and prayer at Rizal Park here on Tuesday afternoon following reports that Duterte was arrested and temporarily held at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain Jr. and the members of the 20th City Council led the ceremony and offered prayers for peace in solidarity with former President Duterte. Quitain encouraged others to do the same, emphasizing the power of prayer during these trying times.
City government employees also joined the ceremony. Councilor Diosdado Angelo Mahipus Jr. clarified the gathering was not intended as a protest but a reflection of the people’s sadness over the ongoing events.
Duterte supporters continued the candle-lighting and held a prayer rally in the evening. Similar activities also occurred across Mindanao, including Tagum City, Iligan City, Valencia City in Bukidnon, Cotabato City, and Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay.
In Tuesday’s regular session, Committee on Education, Culture and Arts, and Science and Technology chairman, Councilor Pilar Braga, recalled the former Chief Executive’s leadership in her privileged speech.
Braga described former President Duterte as a leader who stepped up during a time of national disorder when the country faced the threat of becoming a narco-state. She emphasized that the elder Duterte made difficult decisions to combat corruption and restore order.
“He knew this day would come, but he did it because loving one’s countrymen above self, above family, was his destiny. He stood for us again and again. Now is the time for us to stand for him. Let us protect FPRRD. Let us protect him at all costs,” Braga said in an emotional speech.
Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, son of the former Chief Executive, criticized President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. following his father’s arrest on Tuesday in connection with alleged crimes against humanity.
He called his father’s arrest a political maneuver of the administration to divert the public’s attention from the 2025 national budget issue. He said the administration fantasized that the scenario would materialize with the hope that the national budget issue would disappear.
The Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL) party criticized the arrest, stating that the lack of due process and the Philippines’ non-membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) raised serious doubts about the case’s legitimacy. It called the arrest a “grave miscarriage of justice.”
Hugpong accused the Marcos administration of using it as a political distraction from corruption and poverty. The HTL argued that the administration’s actions aim to silence critics and hide the truth, leaving Filipinos to suffer from poor leadership, economic hardship, and social inequality.
“This isn’t just a political argument — it’s an attack on the core of our democracy,” the party said in a statement, urging Filipinos to unite and demand accountability, transparency, and action against poverty and corruption.
Former President Duterte was taken into custody amid an ongoing political dispute between the Duterte and Marcos camps. His legal team and political supporters challenged the legitimacy of the national budget, citing alleged irregularities.
