President Rodrigo Duterte must be very proud of his home city he literally bragged about Davao City’s best practices in the local government level that were replicated nationwide.
The President mentioned in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday the city’s laudable pieces of legislation. These include the ban on smoking, curfew hours for businesses and minors, and time restrictions on alcohol sale, among others. Likewise, the campaign on illegal drugs, which first gained momentum in Davao City leading to the popular ‘tok-hang’ became a nationwide war as soon as the President began his term three years ago.
The best practices from Davao City is a product of the cooperation between the executive and legislative departments of the city government. The ordinances were crafted with the end view of putting order in the city amidst the changing times. These ordinances did not disappoint. However, much has to be credited to the enforcement of these laws by the implementing agencies from the local government agencies to the police force. It also took the cooperation of the local business community to see these reforms as crafted for the benefit of the majority of Dabawenyos instead of curtailing business. It took some amount of sacrifice on the part of the business community but in the long run, these ordinances proved to be beneficial to all.
The enforcement of these disciplinary laws kept the peace and order of the city on check and the long haul effect is the stable business climate that it created. Given that image, investors began to turn their sights into Davao City in recent times.
These are the same changes President Duterte would like to bring in the national level. From facing the challenge of the indifference of metropolitan residents, that culture is beginning to be accepted and favored.
