ADMINISTRATION standard bearer Manuel Roxas II said Friday that Davao’s claim to being the “fourth safest city in the world” was a myth.
In an obvious reference to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, whose platform of government is improving the peace and order situation in the country, Roxas said the crime problem could not be solved by using a magic wand.
“Just for the record also, Davao has the fourth highest number of crimes in the country,” Roxas said in a presidential forum at the Ateneo de Manila University.
“There’s no magic wand in life.”
Roxas made his statement even as the group Karapatan slammed Duterte’s admission to killing the criminals in Davao City.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to such an affront to human rights especially in light of our horrific experience of the brutal suppression of all democratic rights under the US-backed Marcos fascist dictatorship,” group secretary-general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano lashed back at presidential candidate Grace Poe for saying Duterte was not fit to lead the country.
He also criticized Poe’s running mate Francis Escudero.
“If Senators Poe and Escudero think that Mayor Duterte is not fit to lead the country, then why did they ask for his endorsement in the 2013 senatorial election? “ Cayetano said.
“And why did Senator Poe ask if she could be Mayor Duterte’s vice president earlier this year?”
Roxas, who served as Interior secretary during the Aquino administration, cited statistics from the Philippine National Police saying Davao City ranked fourth in terms of the criminal cases reported in its 2014 report, or just behind Quezon City, Zamboanga and Manila.
Duterte’s supporters on social media claimed that Duterte would make the Philippines a safer country with his 22-year record of making Davao City the fourth-safest city in the world, according to the online website Numbeo.com.
Roxas said the crime rate in Metro Manila dropped dramatically when he was Interior secretary.
