DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Karlo Nograles has one goal in the coming elections: defeat former president Rodrigo Duterte in the mayoral race and become the first non-Duterte to become Davao City mayor since 2001.

Nograles is offering “changes” in Davao City — very much like Duterte’s “change is coming” mantra in the 2016 presidential election. But for the former Cabinet secretary, his “changes” mean actual programs that he intends to implement if he wins in the tight race.

Nograles said these “changes” are based on consultations on the ground and on ordinary people’s appeal. He said he and his slate had reached out to the city’s 182 barangays to hear what they want and to implement projects, should Dabawenyos finally elect a non-Duterte mayor.

“So if we make it, then it means that the people, majority, want these changes to happen, want these programs to be implemented in Davao City,” the mayoral candidate told reporters after his coalition’s miting de avance in Davao City on Saturday, May 10.

“It’s up to us to push [for the implementation of these changes] so our citizens’ vote will not be in vain,” he added.

Nograles staged his political comeback last year and eyed the Davao City mayor position. In his hometown, he previously served as lawmaker of the city’s 1st District from 2010 to 2018.

This 2025, Nograles aims to do what his father, late former House speaker Prospero Nograles, had failed to do: defeat the Dutertes in the mayoral race. The younger Nograles is facing Duterte in the race while the latter is detained in The Hague, Netherlands over his crimes against humanity case in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Nograles and his coalition with the Al-ags and the Garcias held their miting de avance a day before the end of the campaign period on Sunday, May 11. On Saturday, Nograles was the last to take the stage and address his supporters in an open space located near the city’s international airport.

The Duterte-led Hugpong ng Tawong Lungsod held theirs in the heart of Davao City, along the busy Roxas Avenue.

In contrast, the Nograles slate chose to cap off their campaign in the second district, the turf of his ally, 2nd District congressional candidate Javi Garcia Campos. The Dutertes have had a solid hold on the 1st District since 2019, where Roxas Avenue is situated.

‘More open’ Davao City

Nograles pulled the usual miting de avance tricks – a lively and colorful rally, musical numbers, and his own mascot even. At times, during rallies, he would join his performing dancers and was very active too in posting his campaign materials on social media.

This was not strange — at least for Nograles — because he did the same things while he was still in Malacañang. In the weeks-long campaign, Nograles was a elusive even to the local media. But after his miting de avance, he gamely replied to questions.

Unlike the incumbent Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s political speeches that tried to evoke emotions and mention the word “Duterte” repeatedly, Nograles’ last address to his supporters on May 10 was straightforward and clear. He had plans and he chose to highlight them during his miting de avance — health, education, livelihood, peace and order, and social services.

For the health sector, he said he would implement a program to ensure that medical assistance for those in need does not go below P25,000. He also promised free maintenance medicine and to beef up Davao City’s district hospital.

Nograles also promised to illuminate the dark parts of their city, provide free uniforms and school supplies, and scholarship for college students. The aspiring mayor also promised to digitalize local government transactions for faster operations. He is also eyeing quicker approval of business permits to allow local businesses to grow more.

When asked how he will implement all of these should he win, Nograles said his government will take a look at the programs that had been given allocations from the city’s 2025 budget, approved in 2024.

“So whatever projects we need to implement, we’ll have to implement that, but in accordance with the platform of our government, in accordance with our priorities,” Nograles said.

Duterte’s rival added that if he wins, his government will be more welcoming: “We’re open. We’ll be open to all sectors.”

Apart from heavy traffic, perennial flooding, and waste management, Davao City had also been flagged for having multi-million confidential funds under the administration of the Dutertes. The city under Sebastian had P530 million in confidential expenses in 2023 — higher than those of seven wealthiest cities in the country combined.

For 2025, Davao City has a P14-billion peso budget, and peace and order got the lion’s share with P2 billion, according to a Mindanews report. Nograles said Davao City will “have to rethink” its confidential spending because the budget should be allocated appropriately. The mayoral bet said he does not “think [it’s] sustainable” to put a big chunk of the budget into confidential funds.

“It shouldn’t be the case that confidential funds get the bulk of the budget because we have five programs. If it’s possible to distribute evenly to fulfill all five, then we’ll have to do that, if it entails reducing the confidential funds, the intelligence funds, without sacrificing the quality of peace and order,” Nograles told reporters.

“And in fact, with efficient use of these confidential funds, Davao City’s peace and order would be better, then that’s I think a better way of utilizing the funds of the city,” he added.

From Davao to Manila to Davao

Born to a politician father, Nograles studied at Ateneo de Davao University from pre-school to elementary, according to his profile available in his website. He moved to Manila for high school and graduated from the Philippine Science High School in Diliman, Quezon City.

In college, Nograles obtained a Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering degree from the Ateneo de Manila University. He got his law degree from the same university in 2003, and became a lawyer like his father.

While in law school, he entered government in 2001 and worked as his father’s chief political affairs officer. He also practiced law, while serving under his father’s office in the House of Representatives.

After his father finished his term in 2010, Nograles ran and won the 1st District seat. He has won all his three elections — 2010, 2013, and 2016 — as district representative. He was supposed to finish his third and last term in 2019, but he resigned to accept Duterte’s job offer.

The Dutertes and Nograleses have been long-time political rivals. But the two families mended ties after Duterte won the presidency and later offered Karlo key positions in Malacañang. After his appointment in 2018, presidential son Paolo Duterte captured the 1st District seat in 2019 and has been holding the position since then.

In Malacañang, Nograles was appointed by Duterte as his Cabinet secretary, replacing Duterte’s trusted man Leoncio “Jun” Evasco, who resigned to run for Bohol governor in 2019. When Harry Roque resigned and ran for senator in the 2022 elections, Nograles also took on the role as Duterte’s acting spokesperson.

Before Duterte’s term ended in 2022, he appointed Nograles as chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in March 2022. When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed the top helm, Nograles stepped down but was later reappointed to the same position.

Nograles was supposed to serve at the CSC until 2029, but he resigned and filed his candidacy for Davao City mayor in 2024.

Will he defeat Duterte?

For 2025, Nograles entered into an alliance with other political families in Davao City to face the Dutertes running for key posts. Nograles’ running mate, former vice mayor Bernie Al-ag, is facing Sebastian Duterte in the vice mayoral race.

Nograles’ younger sister Migs Nograles is challenging Paolo in the 1st District race, while incumbent councilor Javi Garcia Campos is facing Duterte grandson and Paolo’s son, Omar, in the 2nd District. Another Al-ag, Nonoy, seeks to unseat Duterte ally Isidro Ungab as Davao City 3rd District representative.

And for the mayoral race, Nograles aspires to give Duterte his first loss in the mayoralty race. The former president has served as Davao City mayor for seven terms: 1988 to 1998, 2001 to 2010, and 2013 to 2016.

If Nograles wins, he will not only defeat the former strongman, but will also end the Dutertes’ 34-year control of the mayoralty post.

Only a Duterte has served as mayor from 1988 to present, save for 1998 to 2001. And only three Dutertes — Rodrigo and his children, Vice President Sara and Sebastian — have juggled the mayoralty post among themselves.

But if Duterte wins, it would be the first time Davao City would have an “absent” mayor. Because Duterte is detained, whoever wins the vice mayoralty race will have to assume the role of acting mayor. Even Nograles said he has questions about what will happen in the event that Davao City elects ICC-detained Duterte.

“There are lots of question marks [on] what will happen…As a lawyer, there are lots of legal questions that might be asked and we don’t know the answers readily, because…this is a unique situation. It’s very new, it’s never happened before, at the very least, not for Davao and any city or province for that matter,” Nograles said.

Duterte and his family’s unwavering popularity and influence is undeniable.

This must be the reason why they fielded five members of the family for local posts. And although the patriarch is locked away in the Netherlands over his war on drugs that killed nearly 30,000 people, based on human rights groups’ tallies, his family still continues to enjoy the massive backing of loyal supporters.

Nograles said he has done everything he could and shared all there was to share in terms of platforms and plans. At the end of the day, it’s still the Dabawenyos who will choose whether or not to etch a new name in the list of Davao City chiefs.

“It’s up to the voters. This is the voter’s decision,” Nograles declared. – Rappler.com

*Some quotes were translated from Cebuano to English for brevity