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| Composite photos of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte and Nuelle Duterte |
In a report by Rappler, Nuelle speaks her mind and shares how ashamed she is of having Duterte as her last name.
She is related to the Chief Executive as she is the daughter of the Philippine President's younger brother Emmanuel or "Blueboy" which makes her a niece of the Mindanaoan President.
"Imagine when I have to introduce myself to colleagues, patients, and their families. I always hope they don't pay attention to world events," she admitted in one of her Facebook posts.
Nuelle tells Rappler how she ends the conversation when someone tells her about their admiration to his uncle.
"They like to tell me how much they admire him. I used to just cringe inside, but now I say he klls people, to end the conversation," Nuelle said.
According to Rappler, she is uncomfortable calling Duterte "tito."
She once used the "Chel Diokno sa Senado!" frame for her profile photo and described the opposition senatorial bet as "the best one out there."
Consistent with her stand, the president's relative does not follow his uncle's supporters on her Facebook account. However, Nuelle shares posts of journalist Inday Varona and writer Ninotchka Rosca, outspoken Duterte critics.
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| Photo from Rappler |
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| Photo from PCOO |
When the Malacañang's "ouster plot matrix" surfaced to the public, Nuelle's remark was "Talk about incompetent. And dumb". She added that "these people think they can just make up stuff as they go along, because the die-hards and sycophants will swallow anything they're fed."
After the president claimed that he and his siblings were left with lots of money by his mother (her grandmother), Nuelle said, "what a liar."
During the heat of the election campaign, she wrote to her fellow Davaoeños:
"Hi, Davaoeños who are considering voting for the SAP and the stone (referring to Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa)! Deserving is not the word that comes to mind when I hear their names," she said.
Back in September 2018, she stated in her blog that "I grew up invisible. Or so I thought. Quiet, shy, awkward, and a total nobody. I didn't like being noticed, and I especially didn't like being singled out because of who I was related to."
In her dream to "slip away" from Davao City to "make her own life, her own mark, her own name", report said Nuelle "poured herself into excelling at school and at work", until she achieved it.
Things were going great for her, until Duterte conquered presidency in the 2016 presidential elections, in which some people started asking about her connection to the newly elected president.
"Everything was going nuts. American colleagues were beginning to ask me about Rodrigo, while some Filipino colleagues were way too happy about the kllings. It didn't seem right anymore to be fading into the background like I did when I lived in Davao," she said.
At first, she dropped the "Duterte" surname in her username because she wanted nothing to do with a name that she considered "tainted."
But there had been a change of heart.
"Then after a while, it occurred to me that I made Nuelle Duterte a name to be proud of in Davao, in Manila when I was there, and everywhere else I studied and worked, and I was going to take it back because it's my name, and nothing Rodrigo can say or do will change that," Nuelle said.
"I think they either don't know, or ignore what I say. I'm not really sure. I do know my dad pays attention to what I write. Don't know what he thinks about it now. We don't talk about politics anymore either, not since 2017," she said.
"No disowning yet, as far as I know.", said Nuelle.
"It still pains me to know that the name is now equated with 'kller' all over the world. But I want people to know that not every Duterte and not everyone from Davao is like that," the president's niece claimed.
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| The Dutertes |
Source: Rappler
