Team DailyPedia
Soledad Roa Duterte, more popularly known as Nanay Soling to Dabawenyos, wasn’t just a doting mother to presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte.
When she passed away in 2012 at the age of 96, the Dutertes weren’t the only ones who lost a mother.
“All of us lost a Nanay,” said Gabriela Women’s Rep. Luz Ilagan.
An activist during the time of Martial Law, Nanay Soling was among the popular figures responsible for the Yellow Friday Movement, an anti-Marcos movement in Mindanao.
According to Ilagan, Nanay Soling was deemed as the original “Darna” in the local women’s movement. She described Nanay Soling as a woman who transformed herself in order to deal with different women from varying backgrounds, social statuses, beliefs as well as abilities.
“She had the sharp eyes of an eagle, pointing out crucial issues; the heart of an activist, pro-poor, pro-women; the hands of a worker, doing the actual work; the memory of an elephant – she cannot forget what she told you to do; and the confidence and courage of a born leader.”
Mayor Duterte, known for being outspoken, probably inherited this particular trait from Nanay Soling, who was well remembered for standing up against then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile during a public forum in the time of Martial Law.
