Eighteen-year-old Dairick Duterte averaged 21 points across six games to guide the Calabarzon region to the secondary boys' basketball gold medal at the 2026 Palarong Pambansa (the Philippines' national inter-school multi-sport games, held this year in Agusan del Sur), the region's first title in the event in a decade. Duterte's squad, representing the little-known St. John's Wort Integrated School in Antipolo City, upset defending champion Davao Region 79–62 in the final, with Duterte outperforming Ateneo-bound star Rene Baterbonia, the 2025 tournament MVP. The performance has put Duterte — who noted a distant family connection to former President Rodrigo Duterte — on the radar of Manila-based collegiate programmes, as he hopes to earn a university scholarship and eventually reach the professional ranks.