Davao City Mayor-elect Sebastian Duterte takes his oath before Court of Appeals Associate Justice Loida Posadas-Kahulugan at the city's Sangguniang Panlungsod building on June 27, 2022. Manman Dejeto, ABS-CBN News
DAVAO CITY — Incoming Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte on Monday vowed that law violators with ties to authorities would not get special treatment after he was sworn into office.
In his inaugural speech, the youngest son of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte said all residents of the city would be treated "fairly and equally."
“Bisan pa og kaila ta, amigo pa 'ta 'mo, empleyado sa gobyerno, pag-abot sa balaod patas tang tanan,” he said.
(Whether we're friends or you work for the government, we are all equal under the law.)
Speaking in front of the barangay officials at the City Hall drive, he reminded local residents to not be threatened by law violators when they say they know a certain official.
“Ayaw mo'g tuo og name-dropping," the younger Duterte said.
(Don't believe in name-dropping.)
He also vowed that peace and order would be a priority of his administration, after Davao City was declared "insurgency-free" under the watch of his sister, outgoing mayor and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte.
Baste Duterte also urged criminals to think twice before defying the law.
“Those who think they are above the law and policies of the city, magpahinumdom ko sa tanan nga maghunahuna mobuhat og kagubot diri, ayaw buhata diri. I will always protect and secure our law-abiding citizens,” he said.
(I am reminding you all who think of wreaking havoc here, don't do it.)
Duterte initially sought reelection as Davao City vice mayor and later ran for mayor instead after his sister pursued the vice presidency.
Guests at his inauguration included President Duterte.
About 900 security personnel were also deployed to the Davao City Hall for the event.
City police earlier said security would be tight for Duterte's oath-taking, just like when his sister was sworn into the vice presidency on the same venue on June 19.
SARA: 'CHALLENGING' START FOR BASTE ADMIN
For her part, Sara Duterte cautioned her successor brother that the first months of his administration would be "peculiar" and challenging" due to skyrocketing oil prices nationwide.
“Ang challenge niani sa tanan is that ang sweldo nato will not increase and ing-ana pud kadako nga mugukod siya sa mga kinahanglan nato gastuson,” the elder Duterte said.
(The challenge here is that our salary will not increase, so we need to catch it up with our expenses.)
But the Vice President-elect said she was hopeful her brother would do a "great job" under his watch.
— With a report from Hernel Tocmo, ABS-CBN News
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