Rody Duterte prefers the ‘lower house’

With the Duterte family supposedly under attack by foes in politics, will Rody, the patriarch and ex-president, return to the halls of power as a senator or congressman?

His friend and executive secretary Salvador Medialdea has an answer. The ex-president, says E.S. Medialdea in jest, prefers the lower house and not the upper house.

Ooops. But wait. By lower house, the former E.S. was actually referring to Rody Duterte’s preference to sleep on the first floor of the Duterte home in Davao, the one where he was often seen sleeping in bed with a mosquito net. He does not like the upper house – or the second floor – because he is more comfortable in his sleeping quarters on the first floor.

Apparently, that’s the joke going around the ex-president’s circle with all this talk about Rody Duterte possibly running again either as a senator or as a lawmaker in the 2025 mid-term elections.

I am sitting across Medialdea over lunch organized by our common friend, the low-key taipan Carlos Chan. I asked how the ex-president is, if it’s true that he’s been sick or that he’s dying as rumors occasionally say, or if he can’t walk anymore without a cane.

He said Duterte is fine, not sick and definitely not dying. In fact, with photos to prove, he said he and Rody recently traveled to Hong Kong for leisure and it was the ex-president who was pushing Medialdea’s wheelchair at the airport, not that the former E.S. could not walk.

He was simply maximizing the wheelchair privilege accorded to traveling senior citizens but was surprised to look behind him when he found out that it was Rody who decided to push the wheelchair instead of a member of the airport staff.

Prior to the Hong Kong trip, they also went to China and had that meeting on the afternoon of July 17, 2023 with President Xi Jinping.

During the meeting, Xi Jinping expressed the hope that Duterte, even as a private citizen, would continue to play an important role in enhancing relations with Manila and Beijing – whatever that might mean.

Actually, Medialdea insists there was no agenda in that meeting with President Xi. The trip to China was primarily to celebrate the inauguration of a school building in Fujian named after Duterte’s late mother, Soledad Roa Duterte, more known as “Nanay Soling.”

Why Nanay Soling? I asked Medialdea.

Because she was an educator, philanthropist and social activist and was also one of the pioneering teachers of the Davao City Chinese School in the 1950s.

Will Rody Duterte return to politics?

Now going back to the question of whether or not Duterte would indeed return to politics, Medialdea said that as of the moment, the former president has no plans of running for any post, even as several leaders are convincing him to run.

So many factors must be considered, primarily his family, with whom he has been spending his retirement life with. It was only until recently that he had to defend the Vice President on issues raised by Congress, not because of her position but because she is his daughter, Medialdea told me.

My fearless forecast is that Rody Duterte would run for a Senate seat or a seat at the House of Representatives, especially if the attacks against ‘Sara Daughterte’ would continue, but barring any health issue for the old man.

With his popularity, he is likely a shoo-in and would definitely tilt the balance of power if he rejoins the wild rumpus. And even if he says no for now, remember it’s exactly what he said about running for president.

The indefatigable Carlos Chan

Speaking of Mr. Chan, the taipan behind the global snack foods giant Oishi is still as busy as ever, on a sort of revenge catch-up with friends from both business and politics, Medialdea included.

His expansion plans for Oishi snack foods overseas are on track – including in Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and more. It’s getting difficult to keep track. In some of these places, I’ve been privileged to witness the beginnings of Oishi’s expansion.

J. CO Donuts & Coffee

Of course, Mr. Chan has other businesses outside Oishi. He is especially proud of bringing J. CO Donuts & Coffee, an Indonesian chain founded by the Johnny Andrean Group, to the Philippines.

How it started, how it’s going.

He shared with me that one time while in Indonesia checking Oishi’s operations there, he saw a J. CO branch in one of the buildings with long queues of customers.

He then sought out the owner as he thought of bringing it to the Philippines.

The rest, as they say, is history. Now J.CO. in the Philippines is the biggest chain outside Indonesia with some 70 branches.

Filipinos must really love the donuts whose flavors are named using eponyms or word plays. My favorite is the Alcapone named after the gangster Al Capone.

Just recently, Mr. Chan and I spent the afternoon at J. CO in Glorietta for a chat and yes, I saw for myself that Filipinos indeed love the donuts. Some even wanted a selfie with him.

It’s good to see that he’s back to his routines after two years of the debilitating pandemic when seniors like him could not go out or travel as much as possible. Now the world is nearly back to normal – and so are the routines of taipans like Mr. Chan.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen (Iris Gonzales) on Facebook.