Honeylet Avanceña

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Salvador and the surname or paternal family name is Avanceña.

Cielito "Honeylet" Salvador Avanceña (born February 17, 1970^[1]) is a Filipina businesswoman who is the domestic partner of Rodrigo Duterte, the 16th President of the Philippines (in office 2016–2022).^[2] Avanceña and Duterte have been in a relationship since as early as 1996 and have a daughter together. Although she was de facto spouse of the president of the Philippines, she was not designated as First Lady during Duterte's presidency. Nonetheless, she served the duties of First Lady during state banquets.

Honeylet Avanceña
Born	Cielito Salvador Avaceña (1970-02-17) February 17, 1970 (age 54) Davao City, Philippines
Alma mater	Davao Doctors' College (BS)
Occupation(s)	Businesswoman, former nurse
Known for	Spouse of the president of the Philippines; albeit unmarried
Partner	Rodrigo Duterte (c. 1996–present)
Children	1

Biography

Avanceña first met Rodrigo Duterte shortly after she participated in the 1988 Mutya ng Dabaw pageant where she finished as first runner-up.^[3] Avanceña worked as a nurse in the United States for four years.^[4] She returned to Davao shortly after her daughter Veronica was born in 2004.^[5]

She joined her partner's presidential campaign in Luzon during the run-up to the 2016 elections.^[5]

Prior to Duterte's presidency, Avanceña ran several businesses in Davao: a meat shop, a canteen catering service, and 11 Mister Donut franchises.^[5]

Role in Duterte's presidency

She was photographed with Duterte and the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his wife in 2019.

Shortly after the inauguration of her partner as president, Avanceña was not named as First Lady. Her stepdaughter Sara was proposed to fulfill the role instead^[6] but declined the offer.^[7][8]

Avanceña nevertheless fulfilled roles usually conducted by the First Lady, notably during the state visit of Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and the 30th ASEAN Summit in 2017.^[9]

References

1. Mariano, Nathaniel (February 18, 2019). "Rody, Honeylet hie off to HK on her birthday". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
2. Daza, Jullie (February 27, 2016). "Meet Honeylet". Tempo. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
3. Corrales, Nestor (May 30, 2019). "Duterte tells emotional Honeylet: It's your destiny to be first lady". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
4. Caruncho, Eric (February 28, 2016). "Duterte's secret weapon gets ready for prime time". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
5. Caruncho, Eric (May 15, 2016). "Who is Honeylet Avanceña, the woman behind Duterte?". Inquirer Lifestyle. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
6. Vanzi, Sol (June 26, 2016). "Duterte's women". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016. Although Duterte has announced that his official First Lady will be his daughter Sara, Honeylet will be keeping house for the President, wherever he decides to stay.
7. Alconaba, Nico (May 11, 2016). "Mayor Sara turns down first lady job". Inquirer Mindanao. Retrieved July 19, 2016. The country's next President still has no first lady after Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte, turned down the offer.
8. "Duterte's families arrive separately in Malacañang". GMA News. June 30, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016. During the campaigns, Duterte had said that he was planning to name Inday Sara as his First Lady, but she begged off citing her responsibilities in Davao City.
9. Ranada, Pia (July 1, 2017). "The evolution of Duterte's First Lady: Honeylet Avanceña". Rappler. Avanceña has been taking on so many tasks usually given to first ladies that even Palace photographers and captioners mistakenly called her "First Lady" in a photo release. Within hours, the Palace sent an email correcting the caption, replacing the title with "longtime partner."