Tuesday, January 08, 2008 Pulong takes oath as ABC president By Ben O. Tesiorna and Grace L. Plata
DAVAO City's Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President Paolo "Pulong" Duterte took his oath of office Monday before Judge Emmanuel Carpio in the presence of his family members.
In a simple ceremony held at the City Mayor's Office inside the City Hall, the young Duterte, who is the latest addition to a list of Dutertes elected into office, formally assumed his position as city councilor being a sectoral representative.
In an interview after his oath taking, the young Duterte said he does not have any struggle with his new job, considering that his sister is the vice-mayor and the City Council's presiding officer.
"Wala ma'y problema kay lain lain man mi ug trabaho (There is no problem since we have different work," he said.
The new councilor added that health services would be in the forefront of the ABC projects this year.
"Unahon sa namo ang medyo mga layo na barangays like Paquibato. Plan namo magbutang ug duha ka ambulance didto arun nga madali ug hatag ug assistance (We will prioritize far barangays like Paquibato. We plan to put two ambulances there so that assistance will be easily available)," he said.
After the brief ceremony, the Duterte family proceeded to the nearby Grand Men Seng Hotel for a lunch together with some invited friends.
In an interview, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte expressed his happiness about the latest entry of his other sibling into the world of politics.
The mayor again said that his son's entry to politics is his (Pulong) own decision and that he, as a father, could do nothing more but support whatever his son desires.
Mayor Duterte, however, admitted that he was not at all surprised by his son's entry to politics. He reminisced back when his father was then the governor of Davao, he was also wanting to follow the footsteps of his father.
"Maybe that is what Pulong is doing now, following the footsteps of his father," Duterte said.
Asked if his son is planning to run in 2010, Mayor Duterte said he does not know. He said though that if Pulong would run then he better be prepared financially since he (Mayor Duterte) has no plans of spending his lifetime savings just for his son's political ambitions.
