Davao City, the “baluarte” of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte and current vice president Sara Duterte-Carpio, is hailed by Numbeo as the safest city in the Philippines in 2024 as it has a safety index of 72.5.
Three other cities from the Philippines made it to the list: Makati (with a safety index of 61.3), Iloilo (58.9), Cebu (48.4), and Manila (35.3).
In Southeast Asia, Davao emerged as the third safest city – after Singapore and Thailand’s Chiang Mai. Both tied as their safety index is 76.5. Below Davao are Malaysia’s Penang (68.7) and Vietnam’s Hanoi (64.0).
Other Asian cities that made it to the list were Thailand’s Bangkok (60.2) and Pattaya (54.9), Malaysia’s Johor Bahru (49.1) and Kuala Lumpur (38.2), Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh (48.1), Indonesia’s Jakarta (47.3), and Cambodia’s Phnom Penh (45.0).
Among the aforementioned cities, I had been to all the mentioned cities in the Philippines, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya of Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh, Jakarta, and Phnom Penh. Singapore may be a city but it is actually a country in itself. I can attest that all these cities are safe aside from being very beautiful.
For the uninformed, Numbeo is the world’s largest cost of living database. Numbeo is also a crowd-sourced global database of quality of life data: housing indicators, perceived crime rates, healthcare quality, transport quality, and other statistics.
The website, travelsafe-abroad.com, has ranked Davao City as number one among the 10 safest cities in the Philippines. This was the review written on the website:
“If you are up for adventure and beautiful views, Davao makes a great destination. You can enjoy some up-close time with tigers, crocodiles, and more at the Davao Crocodile Park. You can also enjoy some island hopping and climbing.
“Davao is considered one of the safest and most enjoyable places to visit in the Philippines. According to the crime index, which is a range of zero to 100 with 100 being the worst, Davao lands at just below 28. The safety index is on a scale of zero to 100 with 100 being the best according to tourists, Davao falls at 72.29.”
The other areas listed in the website are, in ranking, Bohol, Baguio, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Makati City, La Union, Palawan, Tagaytay, and Valenzuela City.
The website, escapetoasia.net, listed Davao City as the fourth of the top 6 safest cities to live in the Philippines as a foreigner. It was written by Stevel Paul and posted on September 2, 2023.
According to Paul, the safety index rating of Davao is 72/100. “For context, that’s 57% safer than London and 112% safer than Chicago,” he wrote. “Compared to other cities in Southeast Asia, Davao is 5% less safe than Chiang Mai, but still 50% safer than Ho Chi Minh City, and 95% safer than Kuala Lumpur.
“In fact, Davao has the best safety Index score of anywhere I checked in the Philippines,” Paul further wrote. “That said, I still moved it down the list a couple spots because of its location in Mindanao.”
Mindanao, he noted, has had issues with Islamic terrorism in the last couple decades. Although Davao has not been a primary site of terrorist activity, he recalled the bombing that happened in 2016 which killed 14 people. “So, kinda scary,” he said.
But then, he drew some comparisons: “Would you avoid Boston just because of the marathon bombing there in 2013? Or would you avoid New York City because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Such incidents are isolated and rare.”
Now, if a foreigner would only use his common sense and conduct some basic research on places to avoid in Mindanao, it is “generally be fine living in Davao or visiting for any length of time,” Paul wrote.
In the Numbeo Crime and Safety Ratings, this is how Davao City looks: level of crime: 27/100 (low), worries about being mugged or robbed: 31/100 (low), safety walking alone during daylight: 82/100 (very high), and safety walking alone during night: 75/100 (high).
In the Nomad List scores, Davao City also comes out “pretty good.” Consider these: safety: good; food safety: good; lack of crime: okay; peace (no political conflict): bad; traffic safety: okay; and friendly to foreigners: great.
Paul said that there are three big safety concerns in the Philippines. One is pickpockets and thieves (“which is a common issue in cities across the world”), terrorism and kidnapping (“probably the most sensational safety risk in the Philippines”), and typhoons.
Records show an average of 20 out of 36 tropical cyclones enter the country’s area of responsibility. There is no month in the Philippines which is free from typhoons, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
Paul wrote: “When it comes to typhoons, Davao is not at high risk, since Mindanao is typically not hit badly by typhoons. So, that’s good, as well.”
Here is a confession of a foreigner who has lived in Davao City for more than two decades: “I have lived for 25 years in Davao City and I must say it is the best place to retire. The place is accessible to domestic and international routes, with a state of the art international airport.
“Beach facilities are available in less than an hour, with virgin areas, clean, and food that is truly affordable and fresh. The medical facilities and expertise of doctors are at par with that of Manila.”
