DAVAO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s eldest son resigned from his local government post on Monday, citing allegations of links to drug smugglers which he denies and a bitter social media dispute with his own daughter.
Paolo Duterte told the city council of Davao, a southern port where he serves as vice-mayor, that he was resigning because of “recent unfortunate events in my life” — citing family problems and allegations of drug smuggling.
“These among others, include the maligning of my reputation in the recent name-dropping incident in the Bureau of Customs smuggling case and the very public squabble with my daughter,” he said.
“I take responsibility for all that has happened,” the 42-year-old said in a statement later released to the press.
The president’s son made headlines last week when he used the official Facebook page of the Davao vice mayor’s office for an expletive-laced rant at his teenage daughter Isabelle, after she posted criticism of him on social media. Her posts were not publicly available. The vice mayor responded in a Facebook post — which was no longer publicly available on Monday — saying his daughter had “embarrassed” herself with her behaviour though he did not elaborate.
Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2017
