By: Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star)
DAVAO CITY
President Duterte, as he usually does, is expected to follow his tradition of spending Christmas with his family, especially with his children and grandchildren, here in Davao City.
The President has 10 grandchildren with his children – Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and sons Paolo and Sebastian – with his first wife Elizabeth Zimmerman.
Duterte also has a child, named Veronica or Kitty, with his partner Cielito Avanceña, who is also based in Davao City.
The President arrived here last night for the Christmas weekend. He is also scheduled to bring holiday cheer to government troops as well as the sick children in a hospital in Davao City.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said yesterday that indeed the President will spend the holidays with his family.
The President usually hosts a Christmas party for the residents at his old house in Barangay Bangkal when he was still mayor of Davao City.
But when he became President in 2016, Duterte could no longer attend the event for security reasons, although the annual gift-giving still continues.
But what the President also wants to do is make sure he has the time to visit the sick children, especially those afflicted with cancer and are confined at the Southern Philippines Medical Centre (SPMC).
“Doon mo makikita ang kanyang (There you can see his) compassion. He sheds tears every time,” Panelo said of the President’s visit to sick children.
The President also spent Christmas here last year comforting the families of the victims who perished in the fire that gutted a mall in Davao.
Duterte stayed with the families of the victims as he was also the one who announced the predicament of the 38 call center agents who died in the fire that razed the NCCC Mall along Maa Road here on Christmas last year.
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