AFTER noting a "strong resurgence of drugs" in the city, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the matter of keeping the city in order is now in the hands of Mayor Sara Duterte.
In Duterte's career as the longest-serving city mayor of Davao, he has kept the city in peace and with no tolerance for drugs.
"Ningbalik na pod ang pagkusog sa drugs and its not limited to that area nga naay nadakpan ang CIDG (There is a resurgence of drugs in the city and it's not limited to that area where the CIDG staged a raid)," Duterte said.
Now as the vice mayor, he said the responsibility he held before now lies in the hands of her daughter.
"Sa mayor na na tanan (It's all in the city mayor's hands)," Duterte said Tuesday during Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa television show.
Supply and demand
"Mahibaw-an namo na kay daghang gakadakpan nga nagagamit. Kung gamay madakpan gamay lang supply, kung daghan madakpan buot pasabot daghan ang supply. Pasabot ana naay market, naay supply (We would know that because a lot are caught using drugs. If there are only a few, that means supply is tight, but if there are many uses, that means there are a lot of supplies. It means there's a market, there are supplies)," Duterte said.
When asked on the rising number of drug pushers in the city, Duterte steered away from commenting on who's to blame for this.
"Dili na lang ko muhatag ug pasangil (I would rather not point fingers) but as I have said, there is a strong resurgence of drugs in the city," he said.
Self limit
The vice mayor said as the head of the legislative branch, he would limit himself to his political responsibilities.
"Our role here is to approve the appropriation given to the police. Since we have the Committee on Peace and Order I can order the committee to investigate on how the police use the money," Duterte said in vernacular.
"We can always say ngano man ko muhatag ninyo ug gasolina o sakyanan kung ana inyong trabaho. Ug akong bawion nang tanang sakyanan karon adlawa puro gyud nag magdagan nang mga pulis. In that way naa miy mechanism to participate in establishing law and order diri sa dabaw (We can always say why should we give the appropriation to you when your performance is poor? If I would order to retrieve all the police cars or I would not give them the money to buy gasoline they cannot do anything. That's our mechanism in establishing law and order in the city)," Duterte said.
Duterte said his second role as the vice mayor would be to create pressure on the city's law enforcers.
He said, the council as a legislative body, can summon law enforcing agencies to answer to the people of Davao.
Along with his concern on drugs, Duterte also warned parents to look out for their children.
"Mga ginikanan bantay mo kay kusog nisulod ang droga sa dakbayan (Parents you should be attentive because there's a strong resurgence of drugs in the city)," Duterte said. (Jade C. Zaldivar)