DESPITE Davao City being a progressive city in the country over the years, First District representative candidate Maria Victoria “Mags” Maglana said there are still "destitute areas" in some parts of the city, particularly in the district she is running.
Maglana said in an interview on Facts First uploaded on YouTube on April 19 that despite Davao being a highly urbanized city over the past years, she personally saw this during her house-to-house campaigning.
She cited Barangay 19-B, the biggest barangay in terms of population in the Poblacion area, which has a lot of "affluent communities."
"Pag sinabi mo [Barangay] 19-B... medyo (When you say Barangay 19-B, these are people living in) affluent communities, pero may mga campaigners kami na taga roon, na hindi nila alam (but we have our campaigner residing that area who didn’t know), and they only saw it when we did our campaigning... may mga (there are still) urban poor areas at nakaka-encounter kami ng mga babae na nagsasabing 'taga-Davao kami, taga-syudad pero kapag lumalabas kami, feeling namin, galing kami sa lasang' (and we encountered some women who were saying ‘We are from Davao City but when we go out, we felt like we are residing from forest)," Maglana said.
The candidate, a governance, peace and development worker, said that her statement is not meant to undermine the city's progress over the past years.
But she said there are still a lot of things that must be addressed, particularly in the issue of flooding and housing problems.
"The Davao we don't know, minsan ang naha-highlight 'yung (the only thing that is being highlighted are the) urban areas -- the accomplishments of Davao. The city is known for many things. This is not meant to bring the city down, pero andami talagang mga (there are still a lot of) destitute areas sa (in) district one," she said.
She added that some parts of the city are still having "accessibility issues" particularly in potable water.
While she said these matters must be addressed by the executive government of the city, she also underscored her role as a legislator in looking for long-term solutions in the city.
"Sa akin, kung congresista ka, maghanap ka ng long term solutions. (In my view, when you are a congressman, you to help find long term solutions. They are executive concerns, LGU [local government unit] concerns pero malaki ang pwedeng gawin ng isang kongresista (but a congressman plays a huge role)," Maglana said.
Maglana, who is running against presidential son and incumbent First District Representative Paolo Duterte, believes that there are Dabawenyos who are still open for other candidates despite the city being a hometown of the Duterte family.
“Bukas ang mga tao at naghahanap sila ng alternatibo lalo na sa usapin ng district representative. Bukas sila na iba naman lalo na kung ang kanilang pipiliin or makakahanap sila ng kandidato na gagawa ng mga batas na kapaki-pakinabang (People are open are searching for alternative candidates in the first district representative. They are open minded especially in choosing for a candidate that can craft useful laws),” she said.
Maglana is running against Duterte, along with businessman Jamal Ranon Kanan, and Jovanie Cadao Mantawel.
She said she decided to run for the voters to have other choices.
Prior to her candidacy, Maglana had been serving local governments and communities through capacity building, technical assistance, direct support and has been involved in policy development and advocacy work to pass responsive legislation at the local, regional, and national level.