Baste Duterte Bows Out: Gen. Torre Clinches Win in Absence of Opponent
BASTE DUTERTE – The charity bout between Baste Duterte and Gen. Nicolas Torre III didn’t go as planned, as Duterte did not show up on fight day.
Acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte was a no-show at his scheduled charity boxing match against Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III, leading to Torre’s default victory.
The match, which was supposed to be a friendly competition between the two officials, took place on Sunday morning at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. The venue was filled with thousands of attendees who had come to witness the highly anticipated event.
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.
Duterte’s absence was attributed to his recent trip abroad. 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.
Even though the fight did not occur, the charity event still managed to fulfill its purpose. 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.
While the match ended without any punches thrown, the event still delivered on its goal of raising funds for those affected by calamities. Torre’s default win became a symbol of the event’s success and the strong support from the public and private sectors.