Presidential frontrunner of the recent Philippine elections, Rodrigo 'Digong' Duterte, visited the grave of his parents at 3 a.m. of May 10, Tuesday, and asked for their help to rally the country. His father Vicente, who was a lawyer, served as governor of Davao while his mother Soledad Roa was a public school teacher.
Unofficial results of the country's May 9 national elections show Duterte enjoying a wide lead ahead of his rivals. The presumptive winner of the country's presidential race, who is dubbed as "the Punisher" and "Trump of the East," spent time with his deceased parents, became emotional and cried, Rappler reported. He admitted in the video that he had long wanted to cry but was just occupied with the campaign.
As of 4:00 p.m. of May 10, 92.46 percent of the Philippine election returns were already processed. Duterte garnered 15,482,691 votes while administration candidate Mar Roxas followed with 9,354,897 votes. Duterte, who is also a lawyer, is heading to be the 16th president of the Philippines.
During the campaign period, the 71-year-old candidate became a controversial figure for his inflammatory comments on sexual conquest, tough stance on crime and gang rape, CNN reported. As a decades-long mayor of Davao, a city in the southern part of the country, he has been linked to extra judicial killings and death squads.
As the election day was drawing near, issues against him mounted, such as the revelation of his alleged millions of cash in banks and expensive properties. The mayor is known for being frugal, whose humble abode is too far from the mansions of other long-time politicians in the country.
Nonetheless, his campaigns and rallies were packed with oceans of people, all wanting to hear his tirades against the country's elite and promises to punish the rogue military men, jail the corrupt and make the country safe. Despite the issues thrown against him, his supporters are proud of his achievements as mayor. He was able to transform the once crime-filled Davao City into a safe place.
Digong built in his city a village for women inmates, a rehabilitation center for drug addicts, and a state-of-the-art emergency center, Central 911 among others. He implemented a no-smoking policy in public places, speed limits for vehicles, liquor ban after 1 a.m. and installed high-tech CCTVs in key areas.
The mayor has been tapped to run for the presidency by those who want him to implement what he has done in his city to the entire country. Aside from giving a controversial promise that he will clean the entire country from criminals in just six months, he likewise plans to introduce the system of federalism as well as unification among Christians and Muslim Filipinos.
The video below shows Duterte visiting his parents' grave.