Fight or flight response? Baste Duterte goes to Singapore

Acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte was reported to have flown to Singapore on Friday, July 25, 2025, two days before his proposed charity boxing match with Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III. — Inquirer file photos

MANILA, Philippines — Acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte has flown to Singapore ahead of an upcoming charity boxing match against Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III, based on information provided by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

READ: It’s on! Torre says Rizal Memorial Coliseum set for match vs Duterte

According to the NBI, Duterte departed from Davao International Airport to Singapore on Friday morning.

This, said the NBI, was then confirmed by the Bureau of Immigration.

Duterte left the country two days before a supposed boxing match against him and Torre was to be held at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila on Sunday.

It was Duterte himself who challenged Torre to a fistfight in a vlog uploaded on his social media channels.

The PNP chief then accepted the challenge, proposing to turn the event into a charity boxing match for victims of the onslaught of the southwest monsoon (habagat).

But after Torre accepted, Duterte suddenly added a new condition: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must order all government officials to undergo a hair follicle drug test.

A source close to the Dutertes but who declined to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter, said that the acting mayor arrived in Singapore around 8 a.m. on Friday, July 25.

He added, however, that the trip had long been planned even before the Torre-Duterte boxing challenge.

The source also said the acting mayor may be eyeing another trip to The Hague, where his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is being held while on trial for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.

The former president’s grandson, acting Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo “Rigo” Duterte III, was reportedly planning to visit his grandfather next month. Rigo, a son of Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, was not among the family members who accompanied Baste in Singapore, however. /das