DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Sebastian “Baste” Duterte took his oath of office as mayor of Davao City on Friday, January 23, over his father’s failure to assume the post despite winning the mayoral race in May 2025.

Duterte’s nephew, Rodrigo “Rigo” Duterte II, also took his oath as vice mayor. Rigo, the son of Davao 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte, topped the city council race in the 2025 elections and had been serving as acting vice mayor while his uncle, an elected vice mayor, assumed the role of acting mayor or merely an officer-in-charge.

Ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, who served as Davao mayor for more than two decades before becoming president in 2016, was unable to take his oath because of his arrest in March 2025 and subsequent detention at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, where he faces trial over alleged crimes against humanity over his bloody anti-drug campaign.

Baste cited the elder Duterte’s legal incapacity to assume office due to his detention and the succession provisions of the Local Government Code.

They were sworn in by Davao Regional Trial Court Deputy Executive Judge Marie Estrellita Tolentino-Rojas.

Under Philippine law, an elected local official who is unable to take an oath or perform official duties is considered incapacitated, allowing the next highest elected official to assume the post.

Department of the Interior and Local Government Davao head Mika Chan attended the ceremony to ensure compliance with succession protocols.

“The work of the city cannot wait,” Baste said after the oath-taking. “While we continue to seek justice for my father on the international stage, our priority here is to ensure that services for Davaoeños are not disrupted.” – Rappler.com