Supporters of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Saturday joined the global celebration of his 80th birthday. Duterte is currently detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, where he is facing trial for alleged crimes against humanity.

The group, composed of businessmen, professionals, and civic organizations led by Engineer Alfredo Danao Taccad, held a kilometer-long motorcade from Barangay Linao Norte, passing major streets in Tuguegarao City. They capped the event with a birthday program paying tribute to the former president for his “eight decades of great service to the Filipino people.”

The Tuguegarao motorcade — the largest of its kind in Cagayan Valley — coincided with simultaneous events in Tampa, Florida, in the United States and other parts of the world.

Organizers announced on Saturday that prayers and candlelight rallies will continue nationwide and globally until former President Duterte is released from the ICC detention facility in The Hague.

Benito Ranque, co-convenor of the Return Duterte Movement, told the DAILY TRIBUNE that the group held a Zoom meeting and agreed to stage prayer and candlelight events to seek divine intervention for the release and return of “Tatay Digong” to the Philippines.

"We will continue to pray and seek God's help to show our passive resistance to the injustice against Tatay Digong, we look forward for the day of reckoning," he said.

On Saturday, a motorcade was held in Tuguegarao City, followed by a prayer and candlelight vigil later in the evening at the city square. In Cagayan de Oro City, the designated venue for the evening prayers was the Rio de Oro Boulevard in Macasandig. Similar activities were also scheduled in the Caraga Region, Davao provinces, Cebu, and Mandaue.

The celebration is also continuing in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday (29 March) and in Twin Lake, Michigan, on Sunday — making it a 72-hour birthday celebration.