Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte is not interested in joining the senatorial race in May 2025, denying the claim of his elder sister, Vice President Sara Duterte.
“Wala na sa akong interes, wala na sa akong ambisyon, human ang akong kinabuhi naa diri sa Davao. Mao ni akong gusto, ganahan ko sa dagan… di man perpekto sa akong kinabuhi diri (“I am not interested, that’s not my ambition. My life is here in Davao, this is what I prefer, and I am content with my life here”),” Duterte said in his first Basta Dabawenyo talk show streamed through his Facebook page.
The mayor, quoted by Mindanews, made the statement when the program host asked if his participation in the Hakbang ng Maisug prayer rallies is meant to “bring clamor for his potential senatorial bid in the 2025 mid-term national elections.”
Former President Rodrigo Duterte has been leading the Maisug rallies held in different parts of the country, first conducted at the San Pedro Square in the city in January.
Among other reasons, the rallies oppose changing the 1987 Constitution through the people’s initiative and criticize the alleged corruption and abuses of the Marcos Jr. administration, Mindanews reported.
In a media interview in Cagayan de Oro City on June 25, Vice President Duterte claimed the Duterte patriarch and her brothers Paolo (Davao City 1st District representative) and Sebastian are “raring to run” for senator in 2025.
“They are all raring to run. PRRD will run as senator, my elder brother Paolo Duterte will run as senator, Sebastian Duterte will run as senator,” the Vice President said, insisting that “three Dutertes next year, that’s confirmed.”
VP Sara said that Sebastian may even run for President in 2028.
However, the younger Duterte downplayed the possibility of him running for higher positions in the future during the talk show.
He stressed that working in Manila “can be exhausting, and people there are plastic (insincere) and transactional,” he was quoted as saying.
