Davaoenos should be proud of this feat attained recently.
That is, the city’s having been found to be second cleanest among cities in Southeast Asia based on its pollution index of 55.6 percent. We are trailing though with a larger margin to Singapore, a city state, which garnered a pollution index of 32.5.
Davao City bested other major cities in the Asian Region like Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Bandung in Indonesia, and Baguio City also in the Philippines. Naturally, Davao City tops all other cities in the whole of the country.
This is according to a mid-year survey conducted by the Numbeo Pollution Index. The news report though, did not make mention where the Numbeo research or study organization is based. But clearly it is monitoring the pollution level of cities. And the factors in its determination of the pollution levels are air and water cleanliness, garbage disposal, cleanliness of surroundings, noise and light pollution, availability of green spaces, and comfort in relation to pollution.
Mayor Baste Duterte, now a candidate for Vice Mayor of the city, is ecstatic of the recognition. And he attributed the feat to the Davaoenos’ “collective discipline and commitment.”
But here is another “feat” that Davaoenos, especially our local officials, will not likely enjoy. They’d even be mad at it especially to the national administration who lackeys in Congress are doing their damn worst to unearth whatever they consider as “dirt” in the Dutertes’ faces – VP Sara’s specifically.
And what this other top “achievement” is? It is the disclosure by a lady lawmaker from Batangas during an episode of the quad-committee hearings looking into the way the VP spent her 125 million peso confidential funds in 2022, that Davao City is top in spending its allocated confidential funds.
Rep. Girvel Luistro of Batangas presented a document listing figures of confidential funds spent by the various local governments in the Philippines. The document purported to show that Davao City spent the biggest in confidential funds amounting to close to half a billion. And supposedly it was for just one year.
We have no idea where the amount was derived from as it was not stated by the lady lawmaker. We can only assume that she might have demanded it from the Department of Budget and Management, or that it came from the Commission on Audit (COA). But just the same, we are not ready to believe that the amount of confidential fund spent as presented in the committee hearing, is true. And even if it is, but the objective of the government in allocating this kind of money was achieved, then it still is compensative.
Indeed this latter feat is one many Davaoenos will hesitate to rejoice, or never rejoice at all. But again, if the intention is attained commensurately, then it is worth an honor. Unfortunately the specifics of the purpose or purposes were not mentioned in the Lustre document. Only the amount per local government mentioned were presented.
If it were cases deliberated in the courts, the evidence presented is wanting. Therefore, such case or cases should be dismissed.
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The first day of the Senate hearing on the alleged Extra Judicial Killings (EJKs) during the Duterte administration held the other day was graced by no less than former President Rodrigo R. Duterte. He is the very President who is the main personality in the EJK cases being built up possibly to drag the former chief executive to the courts.
But Duterte was unforgiving. With his mastery of his game, his political shrewdness backed by his experience as Prosecutor, city mayor, congressman and then President of the Philippines, he appeared to be toying only in answering questions raised by senators wanting in preparedness to square off with him. It even appeared in his style of answering that he succeeded, without trying, in intimidating the senator-participants in the probe.
However, any keen observer of the proceedings can readily notice some kind of lapses in the former President’s statement. While he denied that there was such a state policy to undertake EJKs through the Police and that he never ordered the law enforcers to execute drug suspects, the former leader told the probe body with a sense of pride that he told the police to “encourage” the suspect or suspects to fight it out with the policemen. And that will allow the lawmen to retaliate thereby making the killing necessary to protect their own lives.
With that the primary purpose of the law which is, as much as possible, give any suspect the chance to surrender, is defeated.
On the other hand FPRRD cannot be faulted if he did instruct the lawmen to “encourage” the suspect/s to fight it out. We know that as a former prosecutor he is aware that so many crimes submitted to his office for resolution, especially those involving illegal drugs, theft and other index crimes, almost always have the same persons as suspects. Instead of mending their ways they become recidivists. Maybe the former President had found it more convenient to just do away with suspects repeating their illegal activities every so often.
But that is only our take on that particular statement of the Davaoeno former President on the EJK issue subject to the Senate probe.
Meanwhile, if the Congressional quad committee looking into the same subject already has the beef on FPRRD, why further proceed with the probe? Bring the evidence to the Department of Justice and have the latter agency file a case or cases against the former President?
Perhaps many are already fed up with grand standings.
