ONE can see a Dabawenyo in other places in the Philippines and can tell he is a Dabawenyo right away through some of the actions brought about by Davao City’s stringent enforcement of its local laws.
Although there may be some or a lot as exception, but a true blooded Dabawenyo practice these good habits they have acquired because, well, they are Dabawenyos.
Dabawenyos are afraid to cross the street without using the pedestrian lanes. Chances are, when you go to Manila or Cebu, if you see a person or persons hesitant to cross to the other side of the street and seemingly looking for traffic enforcer, they are Dabawenyos. According to a city-wide social surveys (CWSS) conducted by an institution in 2018, Anti-Jaywalking Ordinance is among the most complied law by the Dabawenyos. The survey indicated that eight of every 10 Dabawenyos or 84.1 percent followed the Anti-Jaywalking Ordinance due mainly of the strict implementation and penalty the law provides.
Dabawenyos don’t just smoke anywhere. This is thanks to Davao City’s Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance which was first enacted in 2002 but later on expanded in 2012 to include all tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and vapes. Violation of the law carries a fine of P5,000 from P2,000 in 2002. This is why Dabawenyos are not new to looking for designated areas for smoking wherever they go and don’t just light their cigarettes anywhere they feel like it.
With the city as their benchmark, the Senate and the Congress also passed their own version of the law eventually leading to the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, which bans smoking in public places. However, it was not strictly enforced paving the way for President Rodrigo Duterte to issue Executive Order 26 in 2017 reinforcing the tobacco regulation law imposing a nationwide ban on smoking in all public places in the Philippines.
Davao City natives don’t, or at least hesitant, to light firecrackers Even when they are not in the city during New Year’s Eve, thanks to Ordinance 060-02, more commonly known as Firecracker Ban. The law’s provisions include the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession, or use of firecrackers or pyrotechnic devices in the city. This is why Dabawenyos are contented with torotots or any other noise-makers they could get during every revelry.
The Philippines in general has already a law on regulating the manufacture, sale, and use of some firecrackers during revelries, Republic Act No. 7183, before the city formed its own ordinance. However, it was not strictly enforced. Again, with Davao City as an example, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Memorandum Order No. 31 to enforce the Philippine National Police to implement the law, which resulted in the diminishing number of firecracker-related injuries in the
Philippines during New Year’s Eve.
Residents of Davao City don’t just litter anywhere whenever they go someplace else, thanks to its Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2009. Even before this law was enacted, the city already has Anti-Littering Ordinance that makes the Dabawenyos already prepared for the amended law’s implementation.
Some of the provisions of the law include the prohibition of littering, scattering, throwing, and dumping of waste matters in public places. The fine starts from P300 and mandatory seminar up to P5,000 or six months imprisonment.
This law, according to the same CWSS result, is the third most complied law by the Dabawenyos, resulting in Davao City making it among the cleanest cities in the world.
Even if Dabawenyos love to sing especially with videoke, they know when to stop. With the the city’s Anti-Nuisance Ordinance passed in the early 2000s, Dabawenyos know that playing loud music and singing with videoke machines after 9 p.m. is a no-no. This ordinance makes Dabawenyos aware and are conscious of their neighborhood’s right to a quiet sleep. This is the second most complied ordinance by the Dabawenyos, according to the same survey.
Dabawenyos are “least discriminatory” Thanks to its Anti-Discrimation Ordinance passed in 2012, which provides that treating women, persons with disability, lumad, or Muslims as inferior is considered a criminal act. This ordinance makes Dabawenyos aware of their actions against gender, religious, and status biases wherever they go.
Drivers coming from Davao City can easily be spotted. That’s because of the city’s Speed Limit Ordinance, which provides that the fastest they can drive in the city’s certain areas is at 60-kilometer per hour, while in downtown areas is only at 30kph. This is aimed at reducing traffic indents on the highways and roads which are caused by reckless driving.
Now, have you heard this phrase among drivers or car owners: “Paspas ta’g padagan kay di na ni Dabaw (Let’s drive faster we are not in Davao City anymore)!” I’ve heard it many times.
Young Dabawenyos are afraid or hesitant to loiter around whenever they go outside Davao City. That’s because the city’s ordinance on curfew for minors which has been implemented since 2013. Minors 18 years old and below are prohibited from loitering around the city between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. without the company of parents or guardians of legal age in an aim to reduce the chance of minors to become in conflict with the law or be victimized by criminal elements.
Davao City taxi drivers can easily be identified wherever they may be hired. The most famous aspect of Davao City taxi drivers is their honesty and integrity. Most tourists, local or foreign, observe that our taxi drivers give their change even to the last centavos, unlike in their place. There may be no local law that precedes to this behavior of Davao City taxi drivers, but according to historical data it was then City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who strictly mandated them to be honest in their dealings with their passengers.
Aside from that, the local government of the city also acknowledge drivers who return belongings of their passenger to encourage others to follow suit. This practice has been observed during the administration of the patriarch Duterte.
There could be a long list of Dabawenyos’ best practices which may be born out of Davao City’s strict implementation of local laws or imposition of its leader’s mandates. But no matter the reason, Dabawenyos must have inculcated not only in their minds but in their heart as well their long-standing mantra: “Basta Dabawenyo, Disiplinado!”