Karlo Nograles joins race for Davao mayor vs ex-boss Duterte

Former Cabinet Secretary and Civil Service Commission Chairman Karlo Nograles filed Tuesday his certificate of candidacy for mayor of Davao City, pitting him against his former boss, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, and 2 other candidates.

Nograles, 48, filed his COC in Davao City at 9:46 a.m. Tuesday, a day after Duterte filed his own COC for mayor with his son, incumbent Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte, as his running-mate.

Aside from Duterte, religious leader Bishop Rod Cubos and content creator Roweno Caballes have also filed their COCs for the same post.

Karlo likened his candidacy against Duterte to the biblical tale of David and Goliath and urged Davaoeños to listen to his vision and platforms aimed at improving the lives of the locals and advancing the city.

“Akong mga kababayan, kaninyo gitugyan nako akong kapalaran (My fellow Dabawenyos, I entrust my destiny to you). But not without first trying to convince you and your mind how is it to have a choice to win your hearts and make you feel how it is to have a chance, and to earn your support so I can lead you to the change that you so deserve,” he said in a prepared statement to the media.

He highlighted the need for various improvements in Davao City, including addressing the prevalent issue of flooding through coordinated efforts with the national government to secure adequate funding, along with streamlining government services and expediting transactions.

“Better access to basic commodities, better healthcare, better job opportunities, better education, better delivery of government services, and assistance that the people deserve and must demand from their public servants,” he added.

A 3-term congressman of Davao City’s 1st District, Nograles was appointed Cabinet Secretary under the Duterte administration from 2018 to 2022, and served as acting presidential spokesman from 2021-2022.

He was appointed chairman of the Civil Service Commission on March 7, 2022 and served in the CSC until his resignation on October 7, 2024. 

Karlo Nograles resigns as Civil Service Commission chief

For his part, ex-president Duterte said he accepts other contenders in the mayoral race.

“There will always be contenders of public office. You should not begrudge the Nograleses if they also want the distinct honor of being there public office, congressman, mayor, or whatever. We do not have the monopoly of ambition and desire, kagaya ko,” he said over the weekend.

‘HINILA AKO PAUWI’

In a separate interview, Nograles admitted the decision to run for mayor of Davao City was difficult since he could have finished term as CSC chief until 2029.

“Hindi naging madali ang desisyon ko to leave the Civil Service Commission dahil meron pa ko hanggang 2029 sana to complete my term,” he said.

“But I always knew deep down that I would go back to Davao City kasi dito naman tayo nag-umpisa, this is where my journey as a public servant began. It was just a question of when. I thought that I would come back to Davao after my term in the Civil Service Commission, pero nakita ko kasi na in this election, we needed to give Davao City a choice, a chance or an opportunity to change the way we provide services sa mga taga-Davao.”

“Kumbaga, hinila ako pauwi dahil nakita ko po na hindi na pwedeng hintayin ng ganun katagal.  Because for so long, parati na lang there was no choice. And there was really a lot of people from Davao who were asking na tumakbo tayo bilang mayor para mabigyan ng choice yung mga taga-Davao.”

Nograles said that every time he would come home to Davao, people would whisper to him or send him messages, urging him to run for mayor.

“The people who were asking me to come back said: ‘Masyado ng matagal, hindi na pwedeng hintayin,’” he said.

He also refused to frame the upcoming mayoral race as a fight between 2 families. Aside from the mayoral race, Nograles’ sister, Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) partylist Representative Margarita “Migs” Nograles, also filed her COC for congresswoman in the city’s 1st District against reelectonist Paolo Duterte, son of the former president.

“This is not about Duterte-Nagrales. I think it's more than that. It's about the people of Davao. It's about giving them a choice and a real chance to choose and a real chance for change,” he said.

Asked what he would do first if he wins the election, he said Davao City should apply judicious spending of its budget.

“Davao has a lot of money that has to be spent properly. We have a lot of funds, special education fund that has to be used to build more classrooms in Davao City. We still have a shortage of thousands of classrooms in Davao City,” he said.

He said the local government should also be better prepared for disasters including floods.

Nograles also backed the use of technology to speed up processes in city hall.

“E-governance is already the key word in many cities around the country. Davao City has to adapt to that kind of technology. Online payment for the business permits and latent permits of the city. We have to make business easy in Davao City so we can provide jobs to our fellow citizens,” he said.