Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo "Pulong" Duterte paid his respects to his late grandfather, Vicente Gonzales Duterte, on the occasion of the latter's 111th birth anniversary last week.
Accompanying Pulong in his visit to the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Davao was his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Vicente was born on November 23, 1911 in Danao, Cebu where he had served as mayor. Vicente later became governor of the then unified province of Davao. He was the last to serve as governor of Davao when it was still a single political entity.
Former President Duterte’s mother, Soledad or Nanay Soling as she was fondly called, was a public school teacher involved in socio-civic projects in Davao. The tombs of the Duterte couple are both inside the Roman Catholic Cemetery.
It has been the tradition of the Duterte family to visit the graves of their loved ones during both their birth and death anniversaries.
Last Nov. 1 and 2, the office of Rep. Duterte marked All Saints Day and All Souls Day, respectively, by distributing some 1,000 food packs to families living near the cemetery.
The distribution of the food packs focused on the “poorest of the poor” in Barangay 8A, the congressman's office said.
Pulong is on his second term in the House of Representatives.