Santiago Artiaga Before claiming the honor as Davao City’s first sitting mayor, Santiago Artiaga (1878–1962), one of the first
pensionados (state scholars) during the
American occupation, was already a colorful, if controversial, figure in
Manila. As the city engineer, the highest position next to the mayor, he had clashes with the city council and, as acting city mayor, was the envy of his detractors. In 1933, he filed an early retirement from public service, but this was not accepted. He continued to serve as city engineer until 1936 when he resigned to accept the appointment as
de jure mayor of
Zamboanga City. Two weeks thereafter, he was reassigned to Davao as its first city mayor. For nearly three years Artiaga served diligently as local chief executive, but had to leave after President
Manuel L. Quezon plucked him out for another assignment. On October 13, 1939,
Malacañang announced his appointment as the new provincial governor of
Bukidnon, replacing Agustin Alvarez who took over as the new city mayor of Davao.
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Duterte, a lawyer and former city prosecutor, served seven terms as mayor of Davao City. In 2016, he was elected as the 16th
president of the Philippines. Duterte was born on March 28, 1945, in
Maasin,
Southern Leyte. His father,
Vicente Duterte, served as mayor of
Danao, Cebu and governor of
Davao, and his mother,
Soledad Roa-Duterte, was a public school teacher and a noted community activist. Duterte's rise from the legal ranks to politics began when he was named special counsel at the City Prosecution Office in Davao City in 1977. He became assistant city prosecutor two years later, serving until 1986. In May 1986, he was appointed OIC vice mayor of Davao City by the revolutionary government of
Corazon Aquino. He won as mayor of Davao City in the
1988 local elections under the Lakas ng Dabaw banner, defeating former OIC mayor
Zafiro Respicio and popular broadcaster
Jun Pala. Nicknamed "The Punisher" by
Time Magazine for his controversial methods, Duterte nevertheless was successful in reducing crime. Furthermore, he was credited with helping to make Davao City cleaner by enforcing a smoking ban, and for his LGBT-friendly measures. His popularity was such that he served seven terms as mayor, sidestepping term limits with stints as a congressman and vice mayor, and drew huge ratings with a weekly television program "Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa."
Sara Duterte Sara Duterte served as mayor of Davao City twice — during the
first half of presidency of Benigno Aquino III and
during the entire presidency of her father. She became the city's first female mayor, and the youngest to ever be elected in its history. Duterte entered the vice presidential race at the last hour via substitution after initially claiming that she had no interest in seeking a national post. Duterte won as
Vice President of the Philippines in the
2022 Philippine presidential election, as part of the
UniTeam alliance with former senator
Bongbong Marcos, the son of the late President
Ferdinand Marcos, as her running-mate for the presidency. In 2024, Duterte resigned as
secretary of education and also the vice chairperson of the
an anti-insurgency task force (NTF-ELCAC), an anti-insurgency task force. Political analysts have observed that, despite her initial election alliance with Marcos, a developing breach between the Marcos and Duterte political families is correlated with her rising absence from public appearances with the president. == List ==