Baste Duterte Skips Boxing Bout, Hands Victory to Gen. Torre by Default
BASTE DUTERTE – Acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte failed to appear at his scheduled charity boxing match against Gen. Nicolas Torre III, resulting in a win by default for the Philippine National Police chief.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III emerged victorious by default in a much-anticipated charity boxing match after Baste Duterte failed to appear. The event, held Sunday morning at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, drew thousands of spectators expecting to witness the friendly face-off between the two public officials.
By 10:30 a.m., Gen. Torre had already stepped into the ring, awaiting Baste Duterte, who had previously stated he wouldn’t be present. A 10-second countdown was held at the venue, and with Duterte failing to show up, the referee formally awarded the victory to Torre as the crowd looked on.
Following the 10-second countdown, Torre was officially announced as the winner in front of a large audience. The PNP Public Information Office reported that over 2,000 individuals attended the event to show their support for the charitable cause.
The absence of Mayor Duterte was explained by recent travel activity. The Bureau of Immigration earlier disclosed that Duterte had departed the Philippines for Singapore several days prior to the scheduled fight. This revelation came amid his request on Saturday to reschedule the match to “either Tuesday or Wednesday,” indicating a desire to still push through with the bout despite the conflict.
Although the boxing match didn’t push through as expected, the charity event still achieved its fundraising goals. Torre later shared that the government raised more than P300,000 from ticket sales, while private companies contributed over P16 million to assist Filipinos impacted by the southwest monsoon, also known as habagat, and other recent weather-related events.
Although the match ended without an actual fight, the event accomplished its primary goal of generating funds to support those impacted by recent calamities. Torre’s symbolic victory highlighted not only the spirit of the event but also the generosity of the public and corporate donors who rallied behind the cause.