Former President Rodrigo Duterte is poised for a stunning political comeback after securing a landslide victory in the Davao City mayoral race — a win that his camp calls a powerful rebuke to efforts to erase his legacy, both at home and abroad.

British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte’s legal counsel in the International Criminal Court (ICC) where the former president faces charges of crimes against humanity, called the election result a “total rejection” of the Marcos administration’s attempt to silence him.

“The solitary ballot paper of Rodrigo Duterte is of less significance than the overwhelming support expressed for him today at the polls,” Kaufman said on Tuesday. “The electorate showed its clear desire for the former president’s return to the Philippines and its total rejection of the Marcos government’s vain attempt to stamp out his legacy.”

Duterte, who was arrested in March and is now detained in The Hague awaiting trial in the ICC, is accused of sanctioning thousands of extrajudicial killings during his brutal war on drugs.

Government records cited over 7,000 deaths, though human rights groups believed the true number could be over 30,000.

But in Davao City — Duterte’s longtime stronghold — voters appear to have spoken loud and clear.

As of 4:46 p.m. Tuesday, Duterte was leading the mayoral race with an overwhelming 659,557 votes, dwarfing his closest rival, former Cabinet secretary Karlo Nograles, who managed just over 80,000 votes.

It wasn’t just him. The Duterte political dynasty is very much alive and thriving in Davao.

Baste Duterte, his younger son, is winning the vice mayoralty with over 648,000 votes. Paolo Duterte, his elder son, is regaining his seat as First District Representative. Paolo’s son, Omar, is leading in the Second District congressional race. Rodrigo Duterte II, another grandson, is poised to become a city councilor.

‘You can’t bring a good man down’

In a deeply personal and emotional statement posted online, Duterte’s younger daughter Veronica “Kitty” Duterte thanked Filipinos — especially Davaoeños — for standing by her father.

“As a daughter, I cannot thank you enough,” she wrote. “Now, you fought for him and showed the world that they cannot bring a good man down.”

Kitty described her father as a man who “never called himself a politician, but a public servant,” and someone who has always put country before self — even family.

“I’ve never seen patriotism as fervent as his. Although it is not wrong to put family first, he is the only public servant who prioritizes his country, at the expense of everyone and everything he has,” she said.

Speaking with a daughter’s pain and pride, she added: “As someone who was literally raised by him, it breaks me not to see him every day. I know most of you are feeling the same longing for him.”

Despite the ICC’s pending case against her father, Kitty said the election results prove that Davaoeños and many Filipinos still remember what he stood for — and what he gave up.

“They take the masses for fools — but Filipinos are far from that. They see right through the bullshit and straight through the candor,” she wrote. “He is a symbol of the ordinary Filipino in an extraordinary field.”

A family reign — and a political statement

The Duterte sweep in Davao sends a clear message ahead of the high-stakes impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, his elder daughter, and as the 2028 presidential election narrative slowly unfolds.

While his arrest and international trial loom, Duterte’s grip on Davao remains tight, and the massive mandate he just received appears to serve both as a local victory and a national message: He may be physically detained, but in the hearts of his people, he never left.

“Davaoeños cannot be bought,” Kitty Duterte said. “Our success is your success — always by the people and for the people. Money, power, influence and resources are temporary, but integrity, principles, grit and volition are forever.”