Cielito "Honeylet" Salvador Avanceña (born February 17, 1970) is a Filipina businesswoman who is best known for being the current partner of the 16th President of the Philippines,

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

. Avanceña and Duterte have been in a relationship since at least 1996 and have a daughter named Veronica.

Biography

Honeylet Avanceña first met

, who would later become President of the Philippines and her partner, shortly after she participated at the 1988 Mutya Ng Dabaw

pageant Pageant may refer to: * Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume * Beauty pageant, or beauty contest * Latter Day Saint plays and pageants, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or by members local to the area of the pageant * ...

where she finished as first runner-up. Avanceña would work as a nurse in the United States for four years. She returned to Davao shortly after her daughter was born in 2004. She joined her partner's presidential campaign in Luzon during the

2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...

. Prior to President

's presidency, Avanceña ran several businesses in Davao namely a meat shop, a canteen catering service and 11 Mister Donut franchises.

Status as First Lady

Shortly after the inauguration of her husband as president, Avanceña was not named as

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

. Her step-daughter Sara was proposed to fulfill the role instead who declined the offer. Avanceña nevertheless would fulfill roles usually conducted by the First Lady such as during the official visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the 30th ASEAN Summit in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avancena, Cielito 1970 births 21st-century Filipino businesspeople Cielito Avancena Filipino nurses Living people Rodrigo Duterte Spouses of presidents of the Philippines