Baste Duterte serves as acting Davao mayor| The wRap

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Here are today's headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:  - Baste Duterte automatically acting Davao mayor as father still unable to take oath - Court rules Alice Guo ‘undoubtedly Chinese,’ erases mayorship - DOJ Secretary Remulla to apply for Ombudsman - Vico Sotto says he won’t run in 2028, tells opponents to settle billions in unpaid taxes - Toughened by painful Eastbourne loss, Alex Eala braces for Wimbledon main draw debut  https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/june-30-2025/

Transcript

00:00Today on Rappler

00:08Dava Vice Mayor Baste Duterte becomes acting mayor with Rodrigo Duterte unable to take his

00:20oath of office. A Manila court rules that Alice Guo is undoubtedly Chinese and erases her

00:25mayorship from the records. Justice Secretary Boyeng Rimulya will apply for the Ombudsman

00:30Post. Pasig City Mayor Vico Soto will not run in 2028 and tells opponents to settle unpaid taxes.

00:37And Alex Ayala shifts focus to her Wimbledon debut after a tough loss in the East Bend final.

00:44The Commission on Elections says Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte automatically becomes

00:49the city's acting mayor in place of his father. This due to former President Rodrigo Duterte's

00:54incapacity to do his mayoral duties and take his oath. Duterte is currently detained by the

00:59International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Asked if Rodrigo can still be called mayor despite

01:04not being able to take an oath or assume office, Komalik Chairman George Garcia says he is still

01:09mayor-elect. Garcia adds Sebastian will assume the mayoral post in an acting capacity unless this

01:15incapacity becomes permanent incapacity. Interior Secretary John Vic Rimulya also confirms this,

01:21saying Sebastian no longer needs to go through any process to become acting mayor.

01:26The DILG will inform him of his duty. When the former president was arrested in March,

01:30he was already a candidate for Davao City Mayor. Duterte's name remained on the ballot as there

01:35were no Komalik decision that would affect his candidacy in any way. It is still being debated

01:40whether or not Duterte can take his oath of office abroad. A Manila court rules that Alice Guo is

01:47undoubtedly Chinese and erased her mayorship from the records, judging she was never qualified to

01:52begin with. This in a quo war on to a petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General.

01:57Guo ran and won as mayor of the small town of Mambantarlak in 2022. However, under the 1987

02:02constitution, only natural-born Filipino citizens can run for office. A quo war on to a petition is

02:08meant to oust a public official and declare the person never having held office in the first place

02:13due to ineligibility. It gave way to two main pieces of evidence from the Philippine government.

02:18That there exists no birth, death, and even marriage records for Alice Guo's alleged parents,

02:23and a signature expert testifying that Alice Guo's fingerprint matches that of Chinese national

02:28Guo Huaping. The court adds, Guo and her Chinese parents, Guo Jianzhong and Lin Weiyi,

02:34hold Chinese passports. Guo has been detained for nearly 10 months on the non-bailable charge of

02:39qualified human trafficking. She is separately charged with money laundering and graft.

02:44All are related to her role in the scam hub in Bambantarlak.

02:49Justice Secretary Boyeng Rimulya confirms he will apply for the position of ombudsman,

02:54as current ombudsman Samuel Martírez is set to retire this month.

02:57Rimulya says he will be submitting his application before Friday, July 4.

03:01When asked what prompted his application, he says, quote,

03:04Nothing. I think I have a lot to offer there. If the Judicial and Bar Council shortlist Rimulya

03:09and President Ferdinand Marcus Jr. appoints him as ombudsman, he will serve until 2032,

03:14covering almost half of the next president's term. The JBC opened the application for ombudsman last

03:20May, as Martírez's seven-year term ends on July 27. Rimulya has been Justice Secretary since 2022.

03:27The ombudsman was created by the 1987 Constitution to address the menace of corruption in government.

03:33It has the authority to file cases in the Sindigan Bayan against high-ranking officials.

03:39Pasig City Mayor Vico Soto says he will not run for any position in 2028,

03:44even as he called on his political rivals to pay billions in unpaid taxes to the national and local governments.

03:50Soto did not mention any names, but his statements were a clear message to Sara and Curly Descaia,

04:08owners of the top-tier Pasig-based St. Gerard Construction General Contractor and Development Corporation.

04:14In 2024, Soto inspected one of St. Gerard's projects near its office in Barangay Bambam, Pasig,

04:20and discovered at least two of its projects didn't have the required permits.

04:24Sara Descaia ran against Soto for the mayoral position in the 2025 elections.

04:29As of this posting, the Descaias could not be reached for comment.

04:32During his inauguration for his third and final term on Monday, June 30,

04:37Soto says he has no plans to run in the 2028 elections.

04:40After one of the toughest losses of her career, Alex Ayala has little time to recover

04:58as she turns her focus on her Wimbledon main draw debut.

05:02Ayala missed out on her first WTA title after losing to Australia's Maya Joint,

05:066-4, 1-6, 7-6, in the East Bend Open final on Saturday, June 28.

05:13But the 20-year-old Filipina must quickly move on as she prepares to face defending champion

05:17Barbara Karichikova of the Czech Republic in her Wimbledon debut on Tuesday, July 1.

05:23Ayala says in a post,

05:24This has to be one of the toughest losses of my early career,

05:28but I firmly believe that it's these moments that make you stronger and shape your character.

05:32Ayala became the first Filipina to reach a WTA final.

05:35It's a big deal for me and, you know, for my country too,

05:41because it's historic.

05:42It's the first time any Filipina has done anything.

05:49That's also why I'm so emotional, but, you know, it's only the first.

05:54I'll definitely work hard to do more.

05:56And that's today's wrap.

05:59I'm Cara Oliver.

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