Davao City (CNN Philippines, November 4) — President Rodrigo Duterte made an early morning trip on Saturday to visit his departed loved ones here.
The President arrived at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Barangay 8-A at around 12:30 a.m., with his convoy driving straight to the family mausoleum, where the remains of his parents Vicente and Soledad Duterte are.
A crowd of Davao City residents had gathered since early Friday evening a few meters outside the mausoleum, hoping to catch a glimpse of the President.
After almost an hour, Presidential son Sebastian Duterte boarded a private car and left, briefly stopping to speak to some of the supporters waiting for the President.
At around 1:30 a.m., the President emerged from the cemetery onboard a black pick-up truck, briefly addressing the crowd through a loudspeaker and apologizing that he could not get down from his car due to security.
Duterte spoke for about five minutes, but his message was barely audible due to his car’s bad audio system.
The last time the President was seen in public was during his arrival from Japan late Tuesday night.
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He is now in the thick of preparations for his trip to Vietnam to join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit, as well as for the Philippine’s hosting of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and Related Meetings from November 12 to 14.
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Last year, Duterte carried out his annual tradition of visiting the dead by dropping by the cemetery late evening of November 2 to avoid the All Saints’ Day crowd.
