ALMOST a year since stepping down from the presidency, former president Rodrigo Duterte observed that the streets are “really not that safe anymore”.
"There are a lot of heinous crimes committed sa (on) helpless citizens. These streets are really not that safe anymore,” Duterte said in a speech, May 25.
Duterte, who was also known as the “Iron Fist” mayor and had served Davao City for more than two decades, said the disturbing crimes have seemed to add up in the country.
“I heard about those disturbing crimes. One was the rape and slaying of an architect, and the other one, it really disturbs me a lot,” Duterte said.
“‘Yung bata (an infant)... four-month old baby. Binuhusan ng boiling water ng tatay (was poured with boiling water by his father),” Duterte added.
He said these crimes might be rooted in drug-related reasons.
“Lumalakas na naman daw ang droga (The drug problem is worsening)... with the advent of drugs, dito nag-umpisa ang kalbaryo ng Pilipinas (that’s what where the crime all starts), dito sa Davao,” Duterte said.
Duterte said during his tenure as a mayor of the city, he asserted himself to build a city that is “comfortable and orderly” from being a “troubled place” - the same message when he took the presidency from 2016 to 2022.
He added that his actions to keep peace and order during his tenure made the city and the country “progressive”.
“Kaya nabigla yung mga ulol doon.. na-taken aback sila sa language ko tapos yung (People outside Davao were shocked, they had took aback of my profanity, and then when) I openly said, ‘You criminals, especially drugs, p*t*ng*na ninyo. Papatayin ko talaga kayo (I will kill you all).’” he said.
Recently, there have been reports of crimes in Davao City.
More than just a week ago, architect Vlanche Marie Bragas was also killed in Calinan by unknown suspects and is under investigation by the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Bragas.
Last week, there was a shooting incident along R.Castillo, Davao City involving an ex-army as one of the persons of interest.
Last April, a personnel from Philippine Coast Guard-Davao (PCG-Davao) had allegedly raped several freelance models. ICE