Duterte’s son quits position after battling daughter on social media

Gerry Mullany HONG KONG — The eldest son of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines resigned his post as the vice mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao on Monday after his teenage daughter implied he had beaten her, prompting an all-out social media war between the two.

Paolo Duterte quit his job just days after deadly floods and a large building fire struck Davao, the largest city on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The city is a stronghold of President Duterte, who gained his national reputation for being tough on the drug trade during his long tenure there as mayor.

The raging war of words that precipitated the downfall of Paolo Duterte escalated when his daughter, Isabelle, 17, posted on Twitter that her father should not hurt somebody “just because you have a position in the city,” according to The Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“The one you’re touching is also human!!!! Not only human but a child!!!!,” she wrote.

The teenager posted from her personal, private account in Cebuano, the region’s traditional language, according to the newspaper.

Paolo Duterte responded on Facebook, assailing his daughter’s choice of show business as a career, suggesting, “change your family name” and calling her “embarrassing.” He urged her to “go to school so that your mind would NOT go blank” and used an expletive to tell her to fix her life.

In announcing his resignation Monday to the City Council, Paolo Duterte cited the social media fight, as well as his failed marriage to Lovelie Sangkola, the teenager’s mother, and recent accusations tying him to a crime ring.