CEBU CITY – “You want to know the truth? If you come to Davao and engage in illegal drugs, you’re dead!” Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said.
The mayor was in Cebu for various speaking engagements including a forum at the University of San Carlos (USC) audio-visual hall. During the forum, a female teacher from a government educational institution asked the mayor Davao’s secret in maintaining peace and order in the biggest city in the world.
The teacher noted that Davao was recently given recognition as the 9th safest city in the world. Duterte responded candidly, without batting an eyelash, that drug pushers end up dead when they bring drugs into Davao. “I’m not bragging. I’m really going to kill you,” he added.
The mayor revealed that he was investigated en banc over allegations of his complicity in the summary killing of a suspected personality.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who was Commission on Human Rights chairperson during the administration of ex-Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, conducted the investigation.
The tough-talking Duterte has earned plaudits for turning Davao around from a virtual wastebasket in the early 80s into the fifth biggest economies among Philippine cities. His firm and relentless campaign against crime and syndicates have captured the imagination of many people who want the Davao experience duplicated in the entire country.
Davao’s peace and order has become an exception in a country where law and order is being challenged on a regular basis. Duterte insists the growing criminality requires drastic solutions. “I will bring back the death penalty,” the mayor declared when asked what he will do if ever he becomes president. Every time he says that, the applause is spontaneous.
While Duterte continues to deflect calls to run for president, he has titillated listeners with his unequivocal commitment to peace and order. For people who receive a daily dose of reports of heinous crimes and the breakdown of law and order in many places, Duterte continues to win believers over to his uncompromising stance against criminals.
Little wonder that while Duterte insists he does not covet the presidency, more and more people hope he will change his mind and give in to a growing clamor. In all his speaking engagements, Duterte is being mobbed by listeners who want to have their pictures taken with him, a ritual which is becoming a fad in social media networks.
Duterte has learned to oblige people who line up for the familiar “selfie” with him.
Even usually disinterested media practitioners asked Duterte to pose with them after the media forum at the Adnama building Monday.
And even after he declared point-blank the secret of Davao’s safety, his audience in USC did the same.
While Duterte insists he has not decided on the presidential draft, the response at his speaking engagements show that many of those who have heard him have found their presidential bet. (Jerry Dureza)
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