THE Davao City Council has approved a resolution condemning ‘war’ as a national policy under the Marcos Jr. administration.
This move by Davao residents aims to call on President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos to steer the country away from the possibility of a conflict stemming from the ongoing tensions in the South China Sea, known to the Philippines as the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In an interview with SMNI News, Davao City 1st Dist. Councilor Tek Ocampo emphasized the strong opposition of Davao residents to using war as a national policy, particularly amidst the current tensions with China over territorial disputes.
“We call this a collective resolution by the city council renouncing war as an instrument of national policy. This is only a reaffirmation of our constitution that we are just reminding the people of Davao City and the country that we should not engage in such policies that will lead us to war,” said Councilor Tek Ocampo, 1st Dist., Davao City.
Davao residents are also concerned about the apparent alignment of the Marcos Jr. administration with the US government.
Councilor Ocampo emphasizes that such a policy was not present during the previous Duterte administration.
He also noted that despite Davao city being distant from the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites or Philippine Military bases commonly used by the US government for their military assets, which are mostly located in the North and Visayas, they still deemed it necessary to pass the resolution to advocate for a ‘no to war’ policy within the administration.
“If we say, ‘why should we care? It’s far from Davao, it’ll only be a problem for you in Luzon. Or if Visayas gets hit, what about Palawan, it’s nearby? Oh, it’s not like that, right?’ For us, we look at it in a holistic view. We should all help each other. If we here are calling out, the whole Philippines should also call out, hoping that there will be no war because that’s what we’re avoiding,” added Ocampo.
Concurrently, the Davao City Council calls on other local governments in the Philippines to pass similar resolutions while there’s still time to prevent the country from grave danger.
“Let’s not worsen the situation. Let’s not wait until it’s too late. Saying, ‘nothing’s happening — it’s okay, there’s no trouble.’ you’re too advanced, you’re too alarmist. When will we act? When will we encourage the public to pray and unite in saying no to war if the situation is already tense and conflicts are imminent? It should be as early as now,” Ocampo concluded.
