Story behind video of Duterte crying at graves of his parents after the elections. He was never the monster he was painted to be, says journalist who captured Duterte's soft moment

  DUBAI – A video clip of leading presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte crying at his parents’ graves in Davao City after Monday’s elections has gone viral on social media. The video, taken by Sun.Star Davao Editor-in-Chief Stella Estremera and posted on her Facebook page, has gotten more than 1.5 million views and has been shared more than 55,000 times. In the 42-second video clip, Duterte—still wearing the chequered red shirt that he wore on election day—was sobbing at the altar, under the portrait of his mother. “He was never the monster he was painted to be. Now he prepares to take on the heavy burden after crying his heart out at his parents’ graves at the public cemetery in Davao City at past 3am on Tuesday,” Estremera said. "I have long wanted to cry like that," Duterte was quoted as saying by Estremera. The Davao City Mayor, which looks likely to become the Philippines’ next president as he continued to lead in the presidential race, later made light of what happened, saying, "Daghang multo diri. Kadungog mo ganina perteng hilak sa usa (There are many ghosts here. You heard one cry just now)." When asked about how she was able to capture the moment, Estremera said her job as a journalist in Davao has made her familiar with how Duterte moves and thinks. “I went out after work to just greet him because I haven't seen him personally since the campaign started. Turned out to be a long day. But to make things short, having mayor as our mayor across three decades now, and I started as a journalist at the very start of his political career, I know for a fact that the mayor will be heading for the cemetery anytime soon,” she told ExpatMedia.Net. “He does that when he makes important decisions and when he marks a milestone in his life,” she said, adding that Duterte visited his parents’ graves at 3am on Tuesday after appearing at pastor Apollo Quiboloy's television studio SMNI. During that television interview, Duterte said he believes in praying to his parents to seek intercession. MFD/Expat MediaJTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwJTNBJTJGJTJGZXhwYXRtZWRpYS5uZXQlMkZjbGFzc2lmaWVkcyUyMiUzRSUwQSUwOSUzQ2ltZyUyMGJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbHQlM0QlMjJCdXklMjBvciUyMHNlbGwlMjBhbnl0aGluZyUyMG9uJTIwRXhwYXQlMjBNZWRpYSUyMENsYXNzaWZpZWRzJTIyJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cCUzQSUyRiUyRmV4cGF0bWVkaWEubmV0JTJGd3AtY29udGVudCUyRnVwbG9hZHMlMkYyMDE2JTJGMDUlMkZGaW5kLXlvdXItbmV4dC1qb2ItMi5qcGclMjIlMjB3aWR0aCUzRCUyMjEwMCUyNSUyMiUyMGhlaWdodCUzRCUyMjEwMCUyNSUyMiUzRSUwQSUzQyUyRmElM0U=