PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the Bonifacio Day celebrations in Caloocan City later on Friday, according to Malacanang.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea will attend for the President who, according to Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, had to “fly to Mindanao to attend to the problem of insurgency in Mindanao.”

Duterte was expected to lead flag-raising and wreath-laying ceremonies at the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan for the 155th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio.





National Historical Commission of the Philippines Chairman Rene Escalante and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Carlito Galvez, Jr.will be present.

This isn’t the first time that Duterte skipped the Bonifacio Day rites.

In 2016, Duterte visited soldiers in Lumbanayague, Lanao del Sur, who were fighting the Maute group at that time.

In 2017, Duterte visited a “conflict” area in Mindanao, according to former Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. RALPH VILLANUEVA