Duterte son is social media rock star
The youngest son of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte has shied away from politics, unlike his elder siblings.
But when his father decided to run for president, Sebastian “Baste” Duterte suddenly found himself in the limelight as thousands of supporters gushed over his rugged good looks in different social media platforms.
An entrepreneur by profession, the 28-year-old political science graduate from Ateneo de Davao University had actively campaigned for his father, often performing with a band for supporters who had
gathered to show support for the elder Duterte.
On social media, Baste’s popularity matches that of his father, with his posts often getting thousands of interactions.
His Facebook account has reached the 5,000 friend limit, and is now being followed by over 200,000 netizens.
A 21- second clip that showed him sending “virtual kisses” to fans has recently become viral and has been viewed over a million times.
A supporter who uploaded the clip, Aika Ynayan, said she never expected the video to receive a lot of attention.
She said the video was a trimmed version of the Facebook live video released by Baste’s friend and congressional candidate for Manila, Joblack Nkemakolam.
“I tried to download it and trimmed some parts of the video, especially the funny and the kilig parts. It was all just for plain fun in my timeline,” she said in a post, extending her gratitude to Nkemakolam.
“To Mr. Sebastian Duterte, I’m gonna say sorry if ever you didn’t like what I did. But a lot of people enjoyed the video and literally were going gaga over it,” she added.
Strawberry man
During the campaign period, Duterte’s strategist Peter Laviña posted an image of Baste with a strawberry vendor and called him “Strawberry Man,” a reference to the popular “Carrot Man” whose photos also went viral online due to his good looks.
Laviña referred to the younger Duterte as the “secret weapon” of the campaign team.
Other posts about him have also since gone viral, including videos of his various performances as a vocalist in a band.
A father of two, Baste appeared to be unaffected by his popularity, often responding to those who respond to his posts on Facebook.
During the heat of the campaign period, when Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV bared the alleged properties of the Dutertes, Baste brushed aside reports that he owns a townhouse in San Juan.
“Grabe ang yaman namin, may townhouse ako. Tayo na sa Jollibee! Libre ko kayo,” he said in one post. “Show me the love, people! More likes!”
The camp of Duterte said the money used to buy the townhouse came from his first wife and Baste’s mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman.
The marriage of Duterte and Zimmerman has been annulled.
Baste reportedly stayed in the townhouse when he was studying in San Beda High School.