President Rodrigo Duterte said his son Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte may have been fed up, which led to his resignation on December 25.
“Napuno na siguro. Pinatawag sila sa Congress for nothing. And he considered it most unfair to him,” the President said.
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Duterte was referring to the Senate hearings conducted on the smuggling of shabu worth P6.4 billion that was shipped from China and made it past the express lane of the Bureau of Customs. Paolo’s name was mentioned by the Customs broker Mark Taguba as someone who was “name-dropped” by one of the officials he worked with in the BOC. But committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon cleared Paolo from any involvement with the illegal drugs shipment.
The President further revealed that son Paolo asked for his advice regarding the resignation on the evening of December 24, to which he said that it was Paolo’s choice alone.
“I told him ‘Ikaw. You… you are in a position to do what is right. Kung ano lang ang tama sa iyo, gawin mo,” Duterte said.
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Paolo announced his resignation on December 25 during the Davao City council’s special session on a holiday. He made his resignation to be effective on Christmas Day itself, citing delicadeza as the reason for steeping down from his post.
“My parents never failed to remind me of the value of time-honored principle of delicadeza, and this is one of those instances in my life that I need to protect my honor and that of my children,” Paolo said in his statement.
He cited his the P6.4 billion shabu shipment, where his name was involved, and his public fight with his daughter Isabelle Duterte, and his “failed first marriage,” as the reasons why he wanted to resign.
Paolo also blamed his first marriage to Lovelie Sangkola Sumera as the source of the “recent unfortunate events in my life.”
“The other person in this failed relationship is incorrigible and cannot be controlled. And I take responsibility for all that has happened as a result of a wrong decision to marry at a very young age,” Paolo said.
BREAKING: Paolo Duterte resigns as vice mayor | via Yas Ocampo
Story to follow: https://t.co/LkgHoZjCvx pic.twitter.com/lHXBeV3NRN
— Manila Bulletin News (@manilabulletin) December 25, 2017
His younger sister, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said that the President, their father, already knew about Paolo’s desire to resign.
Paolo’s daughter, Isabelle, recently figured in a controversy over her pre-debut photoshoot in Malacañang, something which even the President himself defended her over. Her defense about how, just like others, she requested Malacañang to be the venue for her photoshoot, and how other people can do it too led to the creation of a parody page called “Malacañang Events and Catering Services.”
The presidential son’s resignation also came after he took to Facebook to reprimand Isabelle for accusing him of “f***ing” her Christmas “every year.” In another tweet, she also talked about a “Duterte” who is in power who beat up a “child.”
In response to this, Paolo posted on Facebook to call out Isabelle for being disrespectful and urged her to go to school. He also said that he knew the family would be embarrassed because of his post, but added that he was forced to do it to talk to his millennial daughter who only cares about her number of likes. He told his daughter to “fix” her life first before he will stop “f***ing” up her Christmas every year.
Some netizens even provided a Filipino translation for Paolo’s tweets in Visayan dialect.
I bless you with these: pic.twitter.com/eOrHYionqk
— AltAsecMargauxUson (@AsecMargauxUson) December 22, 2017
In reaction to her brother’s resignation, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said that Paolo is still open to public service after his resignation.
“I look forward to the day he can serve our country again. I don’t think na he is closing his doors in running again,” she said in a press briefing,” Mayor Sara said.
Sources: ( rappler.com , news.abs-cbn.com )
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