Elizabeth Abellana Zimmerman (born April 14, 1948) is the former wife of Rodrigo Duterte, the

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

, and the mother of incumbent

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Sara Duterte.

Early life

Elizabeth Abellana Zimmerman was born on in the then- Province of Davao. Her parents are from Hilongos, Leyte and

Tuburan, Cebu Tuburan, officially the Municipality of Tuburan ( ceb, Lungsod sa Tuburan; tgl, Bayan ng Tuburan), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,167 people. Tuburan was ...

. According to Rodrigo Duterte, she is of

patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...

Jewish descent ''Zera Yisrael'' ( he, זרע ישראל, , meaning "Seed fIsrael") is a legal category in Jewish law that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally of Jewish ethnicity according to religious criteria. ...

, with her father having fled to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. She attended the Ateneo de Davao and subsequently worked as a flight stewardess for

Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL), a trade name of PAL Holdings, Inc. (Philippine Stock Exchange, PSEPAL (Philippine Air Lines until 1970), is the flag carrier airline of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Cen ...

Politics

Zimmerman ran for city councilor of Davao City in 2001 but lost. She joined the ''Biyaheng DU30'' bus caravan which went around the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

, in support of her former husband's presidential bid in

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Personal life

Zimmerman was married to Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte (who later became the

) for over 25 years. She has three children with him, named Paolo,

Sara Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

and Baste. She filed for a civil

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning al ...

in 1998, and for a few months, lived with her brother in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

, occasionally visiting Davao City since her children were still studying there. Duterte has admitted that Zimmerman had left him after she caught him in adultery. The civil annulment was granted in 2000. After the annulment, Zimmerman remained friends with her former husband. She chose to continue using "Duterte" as part of her surname despite the annulment, saying that her marriage with Duterte has never been declared null by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. She has eleven grandchildren: five from her son Paolo, three from her daughter Sara, and three from youngest son, Baste. She also has two great-grandchildren. In August 2015, Zimmerman was diagnosed with stage 3

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

, but was declared fully recovered in October 2016. Her recovery then led to her becoming a breast cancer advocate. “Because God gave me a second chance in life," she said in an interview, "I should advocate for this very noble cause, to become a source of awareness, support and hope to others who are suffering the same as I did.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Elizabeth 1948 births Living people Visayan people People from Davao City Filipino people of German-Jewish descent Filipino people of American-Jewish descent Duterte family Flight attendants Ateneo de Davao University alumni Spouses of presidents of the Philippines