Edge Davao Access - Special Issue

EDGEDAVAO

ACCESS Serving a seamless society

rody 24 /7

PHOTOS BY LEAN DAVAL JR.

SPECIAL MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT OF EDGE DAVAO

EDGEDAVAO

ACCESS Serving a seamless society

Editor’s Note What’s Access?

IN this era of online journalism, highly visual platform, and digitalization, we dare backpedal a bit to offer the old reliable glossy magazine, confident that there are still legions out there hungry for content presented in the pleasant traditional way.

Access is Edge Davao’s contribution to the celebration of our city’s many accolades akin to a post-Kadayawan counting of our blessings.

In the long haul, however, it is our intention to make this a regular vehicle to celebrate individual, corporate, or community milestones, aside from discussing substantive issues confronting our city in its continuing struggle to achieve inclusive socio-political and economic growth.

And, our commitment as always is to provide you a good read.

What;s inside RODY 24/7 - - - 3 DAVAO CITY: MOST COMPETITIVE CITY - - - 6 BEST PRACTICES AND LANDMARK PROGRAMS

- - - 12 CHILD-FRIENDLIEST - - 16

TEAM ACCESS General Manager • OLIVIA D. VELASCO Editor-in-Chief • ANTONIO M. AJERO Managing Editor • NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO Associate Editor • JON JOAQUIN Contributing Writers: GREGORIO G. DELIGERO CARLOS MUNDA Photos: LEAN DAVAL JR. Creative: MARY LOURD ABADINGO JAKE DUPAY

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rody 24 /7

By CARLOS MUNDA

I

t’s a great feeling to wake up every day knowing that you are in the best city in the Philippines. Not second or third, but number one. Numero uno.

The one place in the country where life does not suck. That’s Davao City. Other cities may be queen, but we are definitely the king. And it’s always good to be the King.

Since its founding 79 years ago, Davao City has had a more or less steady progress that has seen it grow from a sleepy town on the southern edge of the archipelago into a worldclass metropolis peopled by migrants from all over the country and the world. People seeking more opportunities and a better life have made their way to this small community nestled along the shores of the Davao Gulf.

First they came in trickles, then in

droves, and finally in a flood that has pushed the boundaries of development farther than ever before.

But together with the good that they bring, this influx of newcomers has also brought with it challenges that are new to the city. Longer traffic jams, higher crime rates, stretched social services – these and other big city problems have suddenly begun to intrude into the city’s formerly tranquil and pretty much laid-back lifestyle.

Davao was a small town on the verge of becoming a big city, and its residents were at the frontline feeling the growing pains.

In a University of Michigan study on Urbanization and Global Change, it is said that the urbanization process “refers to much more than simple popula-

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EDGEDAVAO

ACCESS Serving a seamless society

tion growth; it involves changes in the economic, social and political structures of a region.” And as a city’s population increases, it “strains the capacity to provide services such as energy, education, health care, transportation, sanitation and physical security. Because governments have less revenue to spend on the basic upkeep of cities and the provision of services, cities have become areas of massive sprawl, serious environmental problems, and widespread poverty.”

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90s, the bombing and terrorist threats post 9/11, and all the other natural and man-made crises that the city has faced, one man has remained constant in keeping the city on this straight and narrow course. One man has stood tall in protecting Davao: Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

And just like any other rapidly expanding community – its population jumping from a little less than four hundred thousand in 1970 to more than 1.4 million in 2010 – Davao was going through the same changes, experiencing the same difficulties, and encountering the exact same dangers.

But unlike other cities, Davao had an ace up its sleeve. A trump card that allowed it to navigate the same turbulent waters in relative safety – a captain it could count on.

While best known for being the iron-fisted mayor of Davao who has waged an uncompromising war against all elements of criminality, the value that Mayor Duterte brings to the community he leads is actually much more than that. For those people, fans and critics alike, who choose only to highlight the more controversial aspects of his persona, they are unable to see the subtle nuances of his character. The strength tempered with compassion for the weak and downtrodden, the great humanitarian whose generosity knows no bounds or boundaries, the transformational leader whose style defined disruptive innovation long before such terms were even invented.

During the difficult years of Nicaragdao and the great Davao diaspora of the 80s, the Asian economic collapse in

Since first taking office in 1988, Mayor Duterte has been instrumental in transforming the life of the city by

doing away with the old, outdated, and inefficient models of governance in favor of a pro-people approach that has given rise to some of the best social services in the country. This includes Davao’s much celebrated Central 911 emergency response system that has been modeled from, and is run like, the similar systems in the most developed western countries.

This is actually part of a much larger Public Safety and Security Command Center. Aside from responding to emergencies, it is also the nerve center for the 170 closed-circuit television cameras installed in different strategic areas, including all major roads and bridges, populated downtown areas, and the Davao International Airport.

Recently, Davao was also awarded by the Department of Interior and Local Government its Seal of Local Good Government which, according to the DILG, “aims for a condition where LGUs do not only sustain the practice of accountability and transparency (Good Financial Housekeeping), but are also able to prepare for the challenges posed by disasters (Disaster

EDGE EDGE DAVAO DAVAO

A ACCES S S CCES Serving a seamless Servingsociety a seamless society

HIGHWAY PATROL GROUP. Lean Daval Jr.

Preparedness), and are sensitive to the needs of vulnerable and marginalized sectors of the society (Social Protection). Moreover, the SGLG also drives LGUs to encourage investment and employment (Business-Friendliness and Competitiveness); protect the constituents from threats to life and security (Peace and Order); and safeguard the integrity of the environment (Environmental Management).”

On the economic development side, Davao remains far ahead of the curve in terms of investments and new businesses. Based on data from 2014, the local business bureau has registered a total of P201 billion total capitalization, with the bulk of it coming from new real estate developments.

Agriculture, that other pillar of the Davao economy, is also up with the Board of Investments reporting more than P5 billion in new investments for the first quarter of 2015, which is an astounding 628 percent increase from last year’s data.

Then there are the various local and international citations for Davao being one of the “safest cities” in the

world (and the safest in the Philippines). According to the online statistics website numbeo.com, Davao now ranks as the fourth safest in the world with very low levels of crime index at 16.37, and three-year crime increase at 17.41. This is coupled with very high indexes for safety walking alone during the day and at night, which is at 89.03 and 81.20, respectively.

As a further emphasis to this last point, one of the commenters in the numbeo report, Robert Lenson, said, “I am a Canadian and have been living in Davao City the last 6 months and I love it here! Sometimes I might not be able to sleep and I’ll go for a walk at 1 or 2 in the morning... I’ll never forget the night I ran across the gang of older teen boys... They blessed me (a sign of respect) and then we played basketball for the next hour – in a park where they wouldn’t bother anyone!

Such troublemakers! Another time I was talking with a Traffic Officer when a man obviously without a piso to his name came up and handed the officer a wallet he had found... The gentleman had not even looked to see what was inside... He just knew it wasn’t

his!”

But more than all the economic data, the global and local accolades, Davao owes a large part of its present state of bliss to the vision and integrity of Mayor Duterte. Unlike the other premier cities in the country, Davao has not been blessed with a lot of economic advantages. Being in Mindanao, it has often been painted with the same brush that has smeared the rest of the island with reports of war and unrest. It also doesn’t have the benefit of a large financial district at the heart of the city carrying much of the burdens of development.

But what it does have is much more precious, a leader who truly cares for his city and its people. Mayor Duterte is the strength that powers the city and gives it character. He has given Davao an identity beyond the common geography its people occupies. Davao is as Duterte as Duterte is Davao. And for this, and for all that he has done, he can rightly be called the father of Modern Davao and should be elevated to the pantheons of the city’s founding fathers.

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DAVAO CITY: MOST COMPETITIVE CITY

By Gregorio G. Deligero

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or the past couple of years, Davao City has consistently landed as among the top five most competitive cities in the highly-urbanized category of the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index annually conducted by the National Competitiveness Council in the Philippines with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Based on the framework of the index, the performance of local government units (LGUs) were ranked on three pillars anchored on global standards: economic dynamism, government efficiency and infrastructure. Each pillar has indicators which provide a more detailed view of the economic status of the locality.

Economic dynamism is associated with activities that create stable expansion business and industries and higher employment from “a combination of the entrepreneurial spirit and the financial institutions that will channel dynamism.”

Government efficiency, on the other hand, refers to the quality and reliability of government services and support for effective and sustainable productive expansion while infrastructure refers to the physical building blocks that connect, expand and sustain a locality and its surroundings to enable the provision of goods and services.

Among Davao City’s strengths in economic dynamism are the availability of jobs, presence of financial institutions and the size of local economy while in government efficiency, the city has an edge in terms of the capacity of health services, investment promotion and compliance to national directives.

In infrastructure, Davao City has an advantage in terms of the presence of health

Economic dynamism is associated with activities that create stable expansion business and industries and higher employment. and education infrastructures, connection to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and the availability of accommodation facilities.

The city’s competitiveness is particularly strong in the field of infrastructure that last year it ranked as 1st Most Competitive City in Infrastructure in the entire country.

Indicators for infrastructure include the annual investment in infrastructure, availability of basic utilities, number of public transport vehicles, number of standalone and on-site ATMs, existing road network, distance of City Hall to major ports and terminals, number of tourism facilities accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT), presence of retail companies and cost of freight.

The indicators are encompassing as it also include the number of health facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers and the number of schools including the actual number of classrooms.

Davao City particularly ranked high in terms of annual investments in infrastructure, DOT-accredited accommodations and in health and education infrastructures.

In three years’ time, the local govern-

EDGEDAVAO

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Competitiveness is particularly strong in the field of infrastructure that last year it ranked as 1st Most Competitive City in Infrastructure in the entire country. ment tripled the amount allotted for infrastructure from P51 million in 2011 to P167 million in 2013.

The city’s total road network in Davao City spans 1,856 kilometers with barangay roads comprising more than half.

More than building roads and bridges, the city government also invested a considerable portion of its budget for infrastructure in the construction of schools, classrooms and health centers.

Infrastructure development in the city goes beyond facilitating the mobility of people, goods and services. It also built facilities aimed to improve the delivery of education and health services.

Thus, Davao City’s competitiveness lies not on the presence of gigantic structures but on the impact of its infrastructure projects to the entire effort to improve the quality of life of the city’s con-

stituents.

While Davao City appears to have fared not at its best in other indicators, it remains as among the leading cities when it comes to the cost of doing business which includes the cost of land, the cost of electricity, cost of water, price of diesel and the regional minimum wage rate.

For as low as P2,500 per square meter, acquiring a parcel of land in Davao City’s commercial area is unarguably one of most affordable among the country’s highly urbanized areas.

In the city’s Central Business District (CBD), however, the amount may run as high as P27, 000 per square meter. Yet, it is still cheaper as compared to P48, 000 per square meter in Manila or to the highly priced P440, 000 per square meter in Makati.

In terms of power consumption, Davao City has the cheapest cost of electricity at P7.45 per KwH for commercial use and P5.89 per KwH for industrial use.

In Makati City, the cost is P19.31 per KwH in both commercial and industrial while in Manila, the cost is P13.26 for commercial use and P18.69 for industrial use. In Cebu City, it is pegged at P11.62 per KwH for commercial and P8.92 KwH for industrial.

With abundant supply of water, Davao City is also among the lowest water rates from residential up to commercial and industrial uses. It has also the lowest daily minimum wage rates among the top five highly-urbanized cities.

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King of

KADAYAWAN

Now on its 30th year, the Kadayaw the country. It is a celebration of bo Davao. Truly, an event one must no

Festivals

wan Festival has emerged as one of the most anticipated festivals in ountiful harvest and peaceful coexistence among the eleven tribes of ot miss.

PHOTO BY LEAN DAVAL JR.

EDGEDAVAO

ACCESS Serving a seamless society

By the Numbers

1,012

The total length in kilometers of barangay roads in Davao City, longer than the length of the national and city roads, recorded at 122.41 kilometers and 721.79 kilometers, respectively, combined.

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The total number of bridges in Davao City, more than half of which are located in the 3rd District while only seven are found in 1st District.

P98.4 Billion

The total inward investments poured into the city since the implementation of the Davao City Investment Incentive Code in 1995 up to 2014. No registrations were made in 1998, 1999, and 2012, the years when the code underwent amendments.

P20.59 Billion

The total amount of property development projects recorded in 2013, the biggest investment in the industry posted in a single year.

1.5 Million

The total number of tourists who visited Davao City in 2014, with estimated tourist receipts amounting to P17.13 million.

11,361

Total number of employment generated by establishments newly registered at the Business Bureau, while businesses that sought for renewal declared a total of 154,105 employees.

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BEST PRACTICES LANDMARK PRO

By Gregorio G. Deligero

A

fter assuming the mayoralty post in 1988, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte enacted policy, budgetary, and implementing measures to restore and maintain law and order and build local capacities to match emerging threats to the city and the wider geographic area.

The local government has declared that maintaining peace, order, and safety was a necessary condition for sustaining inward investment, growth, and prosperity in the city and throughout the region, as well as sharing the benefits derived from

that growth.

Investment promotion With peace and order already put in place, the city has intensified its investment promotion campaign to attract and facilitate the entry of national and foreign investors.

The Davao City Investment Incentive Code was created under City Ordinance No. 2017 in November 1994, the first-known initiative from a local government that grants fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to investors over and above the incentives granted under the Philippine Omnibus In-

EDGEDAVAO

ACCESS Serving a seamless society

S AND OJECTS vestment Code.

Incentive applications came in droves in 1995, the start of the code’s implementation. Initially carried out through the “Invest in Davao” project, capitalization of new investments totaled to P3.3 billion in 1995, poured in by 44 investors in the field of agribusiness, light manufacturing, property development, tourism, and transshipment.

A total of P67 billion in inward investments were poured into the city from the code’s implementation up to 2013. No registrations were made in

DAVAO CITY LANDSCAPE. City Information Office

1998, 1999, and 2012, the years when the code underwent amendments.

Last year, five investors applied for incentives with a total P31.14 billion in capitalization.

This year, Davao City ranked first in investment promotion among the highly-urbanized cities, according to the results of the national competitiveness index.

Women and children’s rights Davao City is also at the forefront in advancing the rights and welfare of women and children.

It enacted the Children’s Welfare Code of 1995, another first in the country, which was passed specifically to empower children 1–17 years old and shield them from any form of abuse during their process of development.

A year later, it passed the Women’s Development Code of 1996, a pioneering initiative that aimed to empower women and shield them from any form of abuse in the process of their own development.

For its holistic efforts to promote and protect the rights of women and children, the city has won a number of

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ACCESS Serving a seamless society

CITY TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT OFFICE. Lean Daval Jr.

accolades, including the prestigious Presidential Most Child-Friendly City Award this year.

It also earned in 20014 the Galing Pook Award for “gender responsive” governance.

Central 911 Davao City is also pioneering in introducing innovative measures to promote and maintain peace and security.

On September 27, 2002, the Central Communications and Emergency Response Center was formally launched. The facility is both a call center and a dispatch center that will link the residents needing assistance with the emergency resources of the government – the police, firefighters, medical workers, and rescue services – on a 24-hour basis anywhere within the territorial jurisdiction of the local government unit of Davao City.

For convenience and easy memorization, the combination of numbers 9-1-1 was selected as the access number to the facility. It is now better known as Davao City Central 911.

Davao City became only the third locality in the world that utilizes 911 as its emergency number, next only to the United States and Canada.

A year after its launching, Central 911 added to its ensemble its very own Emergency Medical Services Unit, Urban Search and Rescue Unit, Fire Auxiliary Service Unit, and K-9 Unit.

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Central 911 was a recipient of the Civil Service Commission Pag-Asa Award in 2014.

Anti-Smoking Campaign Davao City provides a leading example of a city in the Philippines that has effectively implemented a smokefree legislation and has significantly reduced the extent that its citizens and those visiting the city are exposed to second-hand smoke.

Originally implemented in 2002, the local government strengthened the law by enacting Ordinance No. 0367-12 Series of 2012 or the New Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance of Davao City.

Under the new ordinance, the entire Davao City is virtually smoke-free as the anti-smoking ordinance defines enclosed or partially enclosed public place as places which are enclosed by one or more walls or sides whether covered by a roof or not, or even if open on all sides but is covered by a roof, regardless of whether the structure is permanent or temporary in nature, that are accessible or open to the public, whether or not by invitation or by payment, or all places for collective use, regardless of ownership or right to access including but not limited to gasoline stations, banks, malls, shopping/business arcades, town squares, terminals, airport, seaport, schools, places of worships/churches, hospitals, cinema houses, gymnasiums, covered courts, funeral parlors, barbershops, cockpits, gaming areas,

Davao City provides a leading example of a city in the Philippines that has effectively implemented a smoke-free legislation and has significantly reduced the extent that its citizens and those visiting the city are exposed to second-hand smoke.

EDGEDAVAO

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IN TIMES OF URGENT NEED...

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

Our Vision-Mission To provide the residents of Davao City a vital and efficient link to the emergency resources of government – medical; rescue; fire; K-9 and police – on a 24-hour basis anywhere within the territorial jurisdiction of the local government unit of Davao City.

Our Goals and Objectives Davao City 911 hopes to attain the following objectives: 1.) to put in place a centralized post for convenient reporting of emergency cases and crime incidents.; 2.) to enable public safety agencies to respond to emergency cases in a more effective, quick and coordinated manner, thereby saving lives, protecting properties, stopping crimes and preventing major fire loss in a systematic and efficient way; and 3.) to empower the residents of Davao City to actively participate in government affairs, particularly in the peace and order programs to cultivate and maintain a safe and peaceful environment, making it more conducive for growth and development.

Our beginnings In 1997 the City Government of Davao and the Davao Light and Power Company jointly put up a project designed to light the streets and alleys of Davao City. It was called the Davao City Street Lighting Project and it was designed with the end view of arresting, if not completely putting a stop, to the rising tide of criminality in the streets. It is an accepted theory that crimes and criminals thrive best under the culture of darkness.

When the project was presented, Davao Light and Power Company bared its capability to pin-point with certain degree of accuracy the location of their poles. This capability is packaged in their program called Power-One, a product of the Geographic Information System that they started developing in 1992.

Immediately, the seed of the idea to use such a potent instrument in the more active fight to get rid of, or at least minimize the incidence of criminality was planted into the mind of Mayor Duterte.

The idea, however, had to hibernate for sometime in order for it to be developed further prior to its emergence to the open.

In March 2002, serious talks on the use of Davao Light’s GIS to address head on crimes and criminality was made. Representatives from both the city government and Davao Light sat down together to discuss and put on the drawing board a concept that will utilize Davao Light’s capability in the city government’s campaign for a more stable peace and order situation.

The city government started to look for sources to acquire the necessary hardware and resources to make the facility effectively and efficiently capable of functioning and exercising its responsibility.

In the meanwhile, Davao Light and Power Company tailored and customized its Power-One program to come up with a similar software dedicated to tracking the locations of both the callers and the nearest responders and christened it the Emergency ComputerAided Dispatch, or ECAD. On September 27, 2002 the Central Communications and Emergency Response Center was formally launched. The facility is both a call center and a dispatch center that will link the residents needing assistance with the emergency resources of the government - the police; firefighters; medical workers; and rescue services. For convenience and easy memorization, the combination of numbers 9-1-1 was selected as the access number to the facility. That is why when the facility, now know better known as Davao City Central 911, was launched, Davao City became only the third locality in the world that utilizes 911 as its emergency number, next only to the United States and Canada.

A year after its launching, Central 911 added to its ensemble its very own Emergency Medical Services Unit, Urban Search and Rescue Unit, Fire Auxiliary Service Unit, and K-9 Unit.

What we do Davao Central 911 uses Emergency Computer Aided Dispatch (ECAD) that enables the authorities to locate the distress calls and 13 of gives assistance to the citizens that needs emergency resources the government.

EDGEDAVAO

ACCESS Serving a seamless society

HIGHWAY PATROL GROUP Lean Daval Jr.

recreational facilities, pedestrian overpass, indoor car parks, waiting sheds, sidewalks and other places where people usually congregate.

The Anti-Smoking Task Force was established to monitor compliance and implementation of the Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance, conduct advocacy campaigns, and support the Davao City Police in filing charges for violation.

The Campaign is divided into two (2) programs: The Smoke-Free Davao Program (Advocacy/Educational Phase) and the Implementation of Anti-Smoking Laws (City Ordinance 0367-12 series of 2012 “The New Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance of Davao City” and Republic Act 9211 “Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003”).

Liquor Ban The city government also enacted Ordinance No. 004-13 Series of 2013 or An Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 1627, Series of 1994 entitled “An Ordinance regulating the operation of business establishments selling liquors,

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coconut wine and other nature wine and other alcoholic beverages in the City of Davao.”

It prohibits the serving of liquor from 1:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. Business establishments like bars and restaurants are allowed to serve liquors and alcoholic beverages up to 12:00 midnight.

The liquor ban is intended to lessen noise emanating from bars and other entertainment establishments and avoid the occurrence of petty crimes resulting from drunkenness, which usually happen during the late hours of the night.

Videoke Limit To regulate the operation of videoke in KTV bars and even in households, the city government enacted Ordinance No. 0420-10 Series of 2010 or An Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 30, Series of 1988, entitled “An Ordinance Amending and Revising Ordinance No. 142, Series of 1955, otherwise known as the Anti-Nuisance Ordinance” to be known as the “Revised Anti-Nuisance

Ordinance of Davao City, defining nuisance, prohibiting the same, punishing violation thereof and for other purposes.”

The ordinance prohibits the use of videoke beyond 10:00 p.m. in all commercial establishments and private residential homes. It exempts birthday party celebrations but requires written consent from neighbors and approval from the concerned barangay captain.

Firecracker Ban To reduce or avoid casualties resulting from the use of firecrackers, the city government enacted Ordinance No. 060-02 Series of 2002 or An Ordinance prohibiting the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession or use of firecrackers or pyrotechnic devices and such other similar devices and the exploding of firecrackers or other similar explosives within the territorial jurisdiction of Davao City.

Since its implementation, Davao City has achieved zero-casualty from firecrackers specifically during the eve of Christmas Day and New Year.

EDGE EDGE DAVAO DAVAO

A ACCES S S CCES Serving a seamless Servingsociety a seamless society

NEW GOV. GENEROSO BRIDGE. Rene B. Lumawag

Speed Limit To address the alarming increase in the occurrence traffic mishaps on the highways, thoroughfares, streets, and roads of Davao City primarily caused by speeding and reckless driving, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte issued the Executive Order No. 39, Series of 2013, entitled “An Order Setting the Speed Limits for all Kinds of Motor Vehicles Within the Territorial Jurisdiction of Davao City, providing for its Sanctions and for Other Purposes.”

Implemented in coordination with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the maximum speed limits are 30 kph, 40 kph and 60 kph starting from the downtown area towards the outer portions of the city.

Complementary to this measure is Ordinance No. 0445-10 Series of 2010 or “An Ordinance prohibiting and penalizing the act of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor and/or prohibited drugs” that the city government earlier enacted.

Other landmark policies

Other landmark policies of Davao City include: Aerial Spraying Ban. To lessen, if not totally eliminate, the occurrence of diseases attributed to pesticides, the city government enacted Ordinance No. 0309-07 Series of 2007 or An Ordinance banning aerial spraying as an agricultural practice in all agricultural activities by all agricultural entities in Davao City.

The ordinance requires the putting up of buffer zones from the agricultural plantations to residential areas, schools and other institutional structures.

Watershed Code. The Watershed Protection, Conservation and Management Ordinance is designed among others to institutionalize mechanisms to facilitate the economic sustainability of the watershed areas without jeopardizing the ecosystem and public health and welfare towards maintaining the integrity of the watershed areas for the promotion of social well being and a vibrant and sustainable economic de-

velopment.

Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the corresponding Amended Zoning Ordinance. The new ordinance embodies salient provisions which include the delineation of flood-prone and landslide prone areas where human settlement is prohibited, the water resource zone where water drilling and application of fertilizers and pesticides are prohibited, the rural settlement zone where industries are not allowed to operate and the fish sanctuary area where scuba diving, fishing activities or even the passage of all types of boats are prohibited.

Both documents sought to address new realities that Davao City has to confront including the continuing pollution of coastal waters and denudation of forests, the presence of highly hazardous and pollutive industries, encroachment of human settlements in foreshores and waterways and the city’s increasing vulnerability to rising sea level, flood, landslide and other natural and man-induced hazards.

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Child-friendliest

PHOTO BY LEAN DAVAL JR.

By Gregorio G. Deligero

D

avao City has surpassed other leading cities in the country after winning in two succeeding years, 2013 and 2014, the Presidential Award for the Most Child-Friendly Highly Urbanized City.

The award is based on the local government-initiated programs and projects which seek to protect the rights of children. It is bestowed to local government units in recognition to their efforts in the promotion of children’s rights to survival, development protection and participation and for ensuring child-friendly governance and creating child-friendly environments.

Established through Executive Order No. 195 in 1999, the award aims to encourage more LGUs to initiate programs and projects promoting children’s rights to survival, development, protection, and participation.

The award is bestowed by the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) under the Office of the President. The CWC is the primary Philippine government agency mandated, among others, to coordinate programs and interventions among government and non-government institutions that have a stake in the welfare and development of Filipino children.

According to CWC, the award also seeks to ensure child-friendly governance across the country, reflected through LGU policies, programs, and interventions implemented to address various child-related issues and problems. These issues include infant and maternal deaths, teenage pregnancy awareness, school dropouts, and many forms of child abuse, among others.

According to the long-term Local Development Plan for Children (LDPC), the City Government of Davao “exists as a prime mover” in advocating children‘s rights by providing full access to education, health and nutrition, shelter, safe environment, protective and rehabilitative services in order to ensure their holistic growth and development with gender perspective.

The children population accounted for 598,290 or 37.60 percent of the 1.59 million projected household population in Davao City in 2014.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte has declared that the rights of the child “will remain at the top of our priorities.”

“Davao City has been at the forefront in upholding the rights and welfare of women and children with unwavering commitment to take re-

sponsibility in the delivery of education, health and nutrition, shelter, safe environment and other protective and rehabilitative services in order to ensure their holistic growth and development,” he said.

“We have introduced innovations and provided adequate resources in making sure that Davao City will be a safe haven for all the disadvantaged, where women and children are recognized as a valuable human resource of the community and where productive members of society are accepted, heard, respected, protected and cared for,” Duterte said.

“Our humble accomplishments over the years clearly reflect the breadth and width of the city government’s sense of duty and accountability for the recognition, protection, promotion and fulfillment of the rights and welfare of women and children in Davao City. Within the limits of our resources, we have exerted our best possible efforts in providing services and opportunities for every woman and child to develop their full potentials and further empower them to exercise their rights and make informed choices for themselves, their families and communities,” he added.