President skips voting at Davao City’s Precinct No. 1245-A

PRECINCT SCENE President Duterte,who usually sits on this wooden chair (left photo) at Precinct No. 1245-A in Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School,was a no-show in Monday’s elections. But his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte (right photo), cast her vote at the precinct. —PHOTOS BY BARRY OHAYLAN

DAVAO CITY — The wooden armchair inside Precinct No. 1245-A remained empty throughout the day.

“We waited for a few minutes in the hopes the President might show up but he did not,” Alma Doromal, chair of the Board of Election Inspectors, said at the precinct in Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School.

President Rodrigo Duterte and at least three members of his family decided to skip Monday’s elections at Barangay Matina in Talomo District here. They were supposed to vote under Cluster No. 889, which includes Precinct 1245-A.

Reports said the President had skipped the political exercise and flew to Manila for the oath-taking of newly appointed Cabinet officials.

At Catalunan Grande Elementary School in Talomo’s Barangay Catalunan, the President’s son and resigned city vice mayor, Paolo Duterte, and his wife, January, did not vote in the village polls. January was running unopposed for another term as village chief.

Paolo confirmed to three sources that he and January were still on vacation in the United States and would not be able to cast their ballots.

His former wife, Lovelie Sangkola, also a registered voter of Catalunan Grande, did not show up as well.

The President’s daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, cast her vote around 9:40 a.m. at Precinct 1245-A. She arrived in a white shirt and jeans with a handful of security escorts.

She sat on a steel armchair beside the wooden chair her father used when he voted during the 2016 presidential election.

As poll officers prepared the materials for the manual count hours later, two Boy Scouts carried the wooden chair back to the principal’s office at an adjacent two-story building.

Outside, a crowd of voters, all Duterte fans, lingered on, many sad and disappointed by his nonappearance.

“I would not go home until everyone else here has left,” said Len Maala, 58, a resident of nearby Matina Aplaya village. “I still look forward to seeing him inside this room next elections.”

The President’s special assistant, Christopher Go, voted around 11:30 a.m. at Precinct 1658-A, Cluster 1146, Buhangin Central Elementary School, Barangay Bajada.