The city government of Davao is balancing crime-busting and fighting against Covid-19.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio announced that the city’s index crimes dropped from 658 to 306 in the previous year while the city’s non-index crimes has increased to 74 percent from 2,887 to 4,189 crimes, due to the increased apprehensions on the violation of Covid-19 health protocols.
The good results are attributed to the intensified security operations of the personnel of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and the Task Force Davao (TF Davao) as well as the high alert security status imposed in Davao City since 2016 until this year.
Mayor Sara said drugs and terrorism remain to be on top of the focus areas on criminality.
Col. Consolito Yecla, commander of TF Davao, assured that TF Davao personnel continue to perform stringent security inspections to travelers and support to anti-illegal drug operations at the city’s main checkpoints that resulted to the apprehensions of 75 illegal drug couriers involving a total of more than P10.5 million worth of illegal drugs this year without any fatality and zero human rights violations.
DCPO chief Col. Kirby John Kraft said the agency has intensified its foot, bike, and motorcycle patrol for 24 hours while police personnel conducts inspection to vehicles to make sure that passengers and commuters are still following health protocols.
“We are underscoring the adoption of the Culture of Security. Simply put, all Dabawenyos should become be a partner in ensuring that our city remains peaceful,” she said during her recent State of the City Address (SOCA).
The mayor emphasized that one component that the city is trying to cascade down to the household level is the “Kapag May Nakita, Dapat Magsalita” component of the culture.
“We need our residents to report all suspicious persons and activities for security action. The initial conduct of the community exercise in the last month proved effective on Dabawenyos’ capacity to report possible threats,” she said.
The Culture of Security Project is a people-centered campaign that encourages Dabawenyos to adopt vigilance as their way of life. The campaign “May Nakita? Dapat Magsalita!” is an order encouraging Dabawenyos to adopt the Culture of Security as part of their way of life. It was conceptualized and launched by the city government of Davao and TF Davao on July 1, 2020 to ensure that bombing incidents in Davao City will not happen again.
Through the campaign, Dabawenyos are urged to volunteer themselves for inspection and help in the implementation of security measures in the city; report all suspicious persons and activities in their community; remind friends and family of all the security regulations within Davao City; and Participate in implementing the culture of security within their workplace, school, purok, subdivision and to be an active part of their community defense system.
