Coming soon: Duterte-Nograles showdown in 2010At City Council, Sara shows why she is her father’s daughter
By Marilou M. Aguirre and Cheryll D. Fiel
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has served for six consecutive years as mayor. During that time, he cultivated a persona that is both respected and feared by the people of Davao. But achieving that is not half as important as using it as political capital to attain goodwill, which, after all, is the one thing a leader such as Duterte needs in order to govern effectively. And no one doubts that Duterte has tons of it.
Which is why the next three years — his last term because the Philippine Constitution only allows a mayor to hold the office for nine consecutive years, or the equivalent of three terms — will prove crucial in how he and his administration will fullfill certain promises — promises that Davaoenos are keenly aware of. Much of the goodwill that Duterte enjoys comes from these sectors.
As with most leaders in the final years of their rule, Duterte is expected to be mindful of his legacy. And the public expects their much-beloved mayor to leave one that is not confined to the stereotypes of him — tough-talking, brutally frank, uncompromising, to name a few.
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte at his inaugural.
(davaotoday.com photo by Marilou M. Aguirre)
Residents interviewed by davaotoday.com said they want Duterte to be more than his image. They want him to address and find solutions for what they think are the important issues or problems besetting the city.
In his inauguration in 2004, Duterte lined up specific projects that he promised to implement before his term ends. These include the Urban Drainage and Flood Control Project (UDFC), the Sensorized Traffic Signalization Project (STS), the Shelter and Urban Land Reform Program (SULR), and the Farm to Market/Alternate Roads Project (FMAR).
Under the SULR Program, City Hall aimed to accelerate its urban land-reform program by acquiring and developing suitable lands as relocation sites for the homeless. Duterte said that no less than 100 million pesos will be allocated for this program. And, according to him, if he had to take and develop by force idle lands suitable for housing, he would certainly do so.
Three years after that promise, housing remains a problem in Davao City.
“A lot of people are still occupying private and even government-owned lots,” said councilor Jimmy Dureza. “There must be a program for relocating these communities and housing units must be provided so these people can live decently,” he told davaotoday.com.
Editha “Inday” Duterte, spokesperson of the Anakpawis partylist group in Southern Mindanao who is not related to the mayor, shared Dureza’s view. “Even though the Shelter Code exists, the city’s housing program remains hanging in the balance,” she said, referring to a law passed last month by the City Council that was supposed to deal with the lack of housing. “The government must genuinely help those who don’t have the capacity to buy their own house,” she said.
Alfred Depala, the spokesman of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) in Davao City, believes that the program was the least priority among the major projects during Duterte’s second term. To unnderscore this point, Depala cited the continuing demolition of urban-poor communities and what he called “development projects that could displace many people.”
In the past year, communities in Bankerohan and Agdao, for example, were demolished, Depala said. Many would hope that within three years and beyond, poor communities would be spared from demolition, especially if there is no concrete relocation and housing programs, he said.
“But the people do not just need a housing program,” Depala said. “What’s more important is that it must be integrated with livelihood, roads and utilities, such as electricity and water.” He said government’s funds must be rechanneled to prioritize the provision of basic social services to the people of Davao.
This was seconded by Wilfredo Lacatan, 49, a teacher from Lapu-lapu Elementary School in Buhangin. He said livelihood projects must be provided to poor communities.
Councilor Emmanuel Galicia, as well as Dureza, urged Duterte to prioritize poverty and housing on his last term. “I hope, by next year, these will be solved,” Galicia said. Dureza said livelihood assistance program for the people must be pursued. Dureza and Galicia are Duterte allies who ended their terms at the City Council last month.
Workers’ Protection
Ma. Theresa Bunal, 35, sells juice and snack foods at her small stall outside the City Council building. She has been doing that for about six years now and her frequent customers are mostly employees from the local government. As such, she has cultivated friendships with many of them. Several of them are non-regular employees in government whose salaries are always delayed.
“I hope the government can give their salaries on time,” Bunal said. “If not, they would be buried deep in debt.”
Most of the time, nonregular government employees are paid late. Because of this, they are compelled to borrow money, usually at a usurious 20-percent interest, or what is known as “5-6.”
Meanwhile, Lacatan, a teacher at a public school, hopes that Duterte could help his sector by supporting the salary standardization law and the call to make local school boards permanent.
“May his administration help uplift the condition of those with marginal incomes,” Lacatan said. He is pushing for the provision of some benefits and social services such as free rice and, most importantly, accessible — if not free — education for the children of education workers and employees who have four or more children. “They badly need the government’s help,” he said.
Proper Drainage System and Waste Management
Between 2004 and 2007, City Hall envisioned 18 main drainage lines from Lizada to Sasa to address the chronic flooding in the city’s low-lying areas. This project costs about 250 million pesos.
However, there are still communities that have to deal with knee-high floods, especially during the rainy season. In Bucana, for instance, Bunal, the vendor, said that when it rains, her area will surely be inundated.
Floods, according to Lacatan, the teacher, are also due to improper disposal of garbage. “The information drive of the government regarding the proper waste disposal must continue especially in slum areas that are greatly affected when heavy rains fall,” he said.
No to Privatization of Water District
Another area of concern is the planned privatization of the Davao City Water District, which is part of the national government’s program. Once this happens, according to Editha Duterte of Kadamay, Davaoeños will bear another brunt.
Under the privatization scheme, the government will be inhibited from regulating the price of water and questioning the policies of the utility’s management, among others.
“We hope that Mayor Duterte would lead the local legislators in making a law that will protect the consumers against water privatization,” said Frankie del Rosario, spokesman of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Southern Mindanao. “The water code must be given priority by the local government,” he added, referring to a local law passed to protect the city’s water supply.
Gangs and Crimes
Bunal, the vendor, worries about the prevalence of teenage gangs who are into illegal drugs. In Boulevard, she said, “rugby boys” are aplenty. This is also a concern of Eusebio Pulgo, 41, and Maria Tundaon, 47, both residents of Boulevard. Like any parents, they fear for their children who might fall into a life of crime or become victims.
Tundaon, whose son was killed, allegedly by vigilantes, on suspicion that he was a gang member, hopes that City Hall will address the issue of extrajudicial killings.
Editha Duterte said she’s hoping that the Duterte administration would continue seeking justice for the victims of these killings. The mayor, known for his support of violent and extrajudicial means to deal with crime, once said that his administration will not just stand and watch as illegal drugs destroy the city’s youth.
Political Killings
Mayor Duterte said that it is his fundamental task to ensure the peace and security of every law abiding citizen in the city. Del Rosario of Bayan hopes that such rhetoric would translate to the protection of political activists. Since 2001, close to a thousand members of progressive groups around the country fell victims to these killings, not to mention the abduction and other forms of harassment and intimidation.
“We hope that Davao would continue to be free from political killings in the next three years and beyond,” Del Rosario said. He hoped that Duterte would leave a legacy among the public servants and lawmakers of upholding human and children’s rights.
Major Programs
Wendel Avisado, the city administrator, expects that Mayor Duterte will continue his major programs: the drainage program, the traffic signalization, the development program of the PTA grounds, the school-building projects, and the computerization of tax collection.
The mayor’s flagship program, however, remains the “peace and order,” Avisado told davaotoday.com
Dureza, the former councilor, said the Task Force Davao must be maintained because the threat of terrorism is always present. If the “peace and order” is preserved, Dureza said, “it will provide opportunity for investments to grow.”
Duterte’s mother, Soledad, also told davaotoday.com that she expects the tandem of her son and granddaughter Sara would give a better picture of Davao. Sara Duterte is the newly elect vice mayor. (See related story.)
“I hope that peace, unity and understanding will prevail in the midst of the differences in religion, culture and nationality,” Mrs. Duterte said.
Turbulent and Uncertain
In his speech during his oath-taking two weeks ago, Duterte reminisced on his governance.
“Our diverse peoples of varying political and religious persuasions were trying to survive in a city that was known as the killing fields of the south, there was chaos in the streets and our city was one of the dirtiest in the country,” he said.
“It was by no means an easy task. It was a daunting task! Together, we did what we needed to do. We put order in the streets, in a sustained deliberate manner, we instilled fear in the hearts of criminals and restored the courage of law-abiding residents to stand up and be counted. We made our city livable. We took care of business,” Duterte said.
Under his last term, he promised to make good on his promises. He said his priority programs in the next three years are peace and security, sustained economic growth and land productivity.
He cited peace and security as the “cornerstone of any and all” of the city’s development projects, endeavors and business activities. He vowed to pursue the campaign against lawlessness and criminality “in a relentless and uncompromising way.”
“It cannot be overemphasized that criminals and terrorists cannot dictate the way we live and hold hostage our way of life,” he said.
The mayor said he would take advantage of the advances in technology as a way to sustain economic growth. He enumerated access to information, enhancement of the workforce’s employability, support for small and medium enterprises, and creation of livelihood opportunities. He likewise gave the assurance that City Hall will “minimize at all times government interference in business.”
He also emphasized land as the city’s “natural competitive strength.” “We must bring every parcel of land in the production cycle,” he said.
“The last nineteen years were mostly a mix of successes, failures, frustrations, disappointments, triumphs, humbling experiences, and best of all, great satisfaction in what truly matters — being of service to our people and country,” he said.
He said a great deal about children. “We must ensure that our children have the best possible start in life. We must prepare our children in their formative years. We must make certain that our children will be educated and that that they will have access to education. We must nurture and protect them so that they will be able to participate and they will be ready to make their choices. We must ensure that when their time comes, they are ready to take the cudgels of leadership,” he said.
Duterte thanked the people for entrusting City Hall with him. “No leader before and probably none after will ever enjoy the kind of trust and confidence you bestowed on me,” he said. “It is something I will forever cherish and treasure.” (Marilou M. Aguirre and Cheryll D. Fiel/davaotoday.com).
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