Tatay Digong supporters extend birthday celebration to 72 hours

Prayer rallies and candlelight events will continue nationwide and across the globe until former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is released from the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, organizers announced on Saturday.

Benito Ranque, co-convenor of the Return Duterte Movement, told DAILY TRIBUNE that the group held a Zoom meeting where it was agreed to hold continued 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 to the day of reckoning” he said.

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

Globally, Duterte’s birthday celebration will continue until March 30, potentially setting a record for the longest birthday celebration. Organizers noted that this may surpass the Guinness World Record of a 26-year-old German man who stretched his birthday for 46 hours by crossing time zones.

Celebrations will continue in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday (March 29), and in Twin Lake, Michigan, on Sunday. This makes Duterte’s birthday celebration span a full 72 hours.

Aside from nationwide events, Duterte’s supporters are holding peaceful gatherings in key cities across the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. In the US, supporters will gather at Hermann Park in Houston, Times Square in New York, and in Washington, D.C. In the Netherlands, a gathering is scheduled in front of the ICC building in The Hague.

“It’s ironic that Tatay Digong celebrated his birthday in prison, but the celebration lasted three days across different parts of the world,” Ranque added.

According to the Guinness World Records, Hagemeier spent 13 hours and 10 minutes in the air, stretching his birthday to 46 hours by crossing the international date line. Duterte’s birthday, however, was celebrated across sea, land, and air — with a drone performance in Davao City, prayers by Filipino seafarers aboard ships in international waters, and even in Iceland where Filipino workers held prayers at their job sites.