DAVAO City Mayor Sebastian Duterte shared the successes of his local government and the current situation in Davao during his third state of the city address held at Rizal Park on Tuesday.
Mayor Baste detailed the city’s developments: peace and order, and economy, among others.
The mayor also proudly announced that Davao City remains insurgency-free.
“By God’s grace, for the past two years, there has been no trouble in our city. Paquibato and Marilog are not perfect, but they are gradually recovering, and the people there are starting to have opportunities,” according to Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Davao City.
Paquibato was once an area heavily affected by the CPP-NPA-NDF.
From July 2023 to the present, Task Force Davao has reported zero terror-related incidents.
Due to the effective management of peace and order in Davao, more businessmen are encouraged to invest in the city.
The number of tourists has also increased in the past year.
Mayor Baste criticizes 3 changes in police city director in one day
Meanwhile, Mayor Baste criticized the three changes in the police city director in Davao in just a day.
“But we have a small situation now. I don’t know the impact of this yet because it’s too early to tell. In one day, we had— not me, but the PNP— their regional office, changed our City Director three times without consulting me. They bypassed me,” stated Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Davao City.
Mayor Baste to give Police Col. Marantan a chance to prove himself
He also mentioned in his SOCA that he will give DCPO Acting Director Col. Hansel Marantan a chance.
In an ambush interview, Mayor Baste said he would hold Marantan accountable if he failed to deliver a good performance in his job.
“I’m not one to conclude immediately. He is also a person, so it’s possible, as I said, the situation is quite different now due to politics. I think there is manipulation from the administration, but he might just be doing his job.”
“He might not have a choice because he has a job, and he might be afraid of being removed. Let’s just leave it at that. Let’s wait. In the end, if things don’t go well, we will hold him accountable for his work,” Duterte added.
Mayor Baste criticizes DPWH for demolishing functional roads in Davao
The younger Duterte did not hold back in criticizing the Department of Public Works and Highways for repairing fully-functional roads in some parts of the city.
“Surely, I haven’t heard anyone being happy about your continuous demolition and resealing of roads. It’s really exhausting to keep doing this repeatedly.”
“You are wasting people’s money. You are really wasting people’s money.”
“But anyway, to end this so we can stop arguing. Why are good roads being demolished and then resealed? The city will provide a list. I hope we understand each other, and you will choose your programs from there,” he ended.
