edge davao access - special issue

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EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

ACCESSSPECIAL MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT OF EDGE DAVAO

PHOT

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AN D

AVAL

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What;s insideRODY 24/7 - - - 3

DAVAO CITY: MOST COMPETITIVE CITY - - - 6

BEST PRACTICES AND LANDMARK PROGRAMS - - - 12

CHILD-FRIENDLIEST - - 16

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 le-gions out there hungry for content presented in the pleas-ant 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 com-munity milestones, aside from discussing substantive issues confronting our city in its continuing struggle to achieve in-clusive socio-political and economic growth.

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

Editor’s Note

TEAM ACCESSGeneral Manager • OLIVIA D. VELASCO

Editor-in-Chief • ANTONIO M. AJEROManaging 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

Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building,

Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, Philippines

Tel: (082) 224-1413Telefax: (082) 221-3601

[email protected]

[email protected]

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

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IT’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 defi-nitely 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 world-class metropolis peopled by migrants from all over the country and the world. People seeking more opportu-nities 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 develop-ment 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 so-cial services – these and other big city problems have suddenly begun to in-trude 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 grow-ing pains.

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

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By CARLOS MUNDA

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tion growth; it involves changes in the economic, social and political struc-tures of a region.” And as a city’s pop-ulation increases, it “strains the capac-ity to provide services such as energy, education, health care, transportation, sanitation and physical security. Be-cause 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.”

And just like any other rapidly ex-panding 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, ex-periencing 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 turbu-lent waters in relative safety – a cap-tain it could count on.

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

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.

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 com-munity he leads is actually much more than that. For those people, fans and critics alike, who choose only to high-light 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 be-fore such terms were even invented.

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 fa-vor 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 devel-oped 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 cen-ter 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 Lo-cal 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 chal-lenges posed by disasters (Disaster


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Preparedness), and are sensitive to the needs of vulnerable and margin-alized sectors of the society (social Protection). Moreover, the sGLG also drives LGUs to encourage investment and employment (Business-Friendli-ness and Competitiveness); protect the constituents from threats to life and security (Peace and Order); and safeguard the integrity of the environ-ment (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 regis-tered a total of P201 billion total cap-italization, 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 Philip-pines). According to the online statis-tics 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 bas-ketball 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 gentle-man 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 integri-ty of Mayor Duterte. Unlike the other premier cities in the country, Davao has not been blessed with a lot of economic advantages. Being in Mind-anao, 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. May-or Duterte is the strength that powers the city and gives it character. He has given Davao an identity beyond the common geography its people occu-pies. 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.

HIGHWAY PATROL GROUP. Lean Daval Jr.


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By GReGORiO G. DeLiGeRO

FOR 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 Com-petitiveness 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: econom-ic 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 busi-ness and industries and higher employ-ment from “a combination of the entrepre-neurial 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 effec-tive 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 eco-nomic dynamism are the availability of jobs, presence of financial institutions and the size of local economy while in govern-ment 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 ad-vantage in terms of the presence of health

DAVAO CITY:MOST COMPETITIVE CITY

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 accom-modation facilities.

The city’s competitiveness is particular-ly 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, avail-ability 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 ter-minals, number of tourism facilities accred-ited 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 facili-ties such as hospitals, clinics and diagnos-tic centers and the number of schools in-cluding the actual number of classrooms. Davao City particularly ranked high in terms of annual investments in infrastruc-ture, DOT-accredited accommodations and in health and education infrastructures.

In three years’ time, the local govern-

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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 com-prising 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 be-yond 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 im-pact of its infrastructure projects to the entire ef-fort 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, acquir-ing 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 com-pared 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 indus-trial 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 in-dustrial 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.

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.


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King of Festivals

KADAYAWAN Now on its 30th year, the Kadayawan festival has emerged as one of the most anticipated festivals in the country. It is a celebration of bountiful harvest and peaceful coexistence among the eleven tribes of Davao. Truly, an event one must not miss.

King of Festivals

Now on its 30th year, the Kadayawan festival has emerged as one of the most anticipated festivals in the country. It is a celebration of bountiful harvest and peaceful coexistence among the eleven tribes of Davao. Truly, an event one must not miss. PHOTO BY LEAN DAVAL JR.

BEST PRACTICES AND LANDMARK PROJECTS

AFTER assuming the mayoralty post in 1988, Davao City May-or Rodrigo R. Duterte enacted

policy, budgetary, and implementing measures to restore and maintain law and order and build local capaci-ties to match emerging threats to the city and the wider geographic area.

The local government has de-clared 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 na-tional and foreign investors.

The Davao City Investment In-centive 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 grant-ed under the Philippine Omnibus In-

By the Numbers1,012The total length in kilometers of baran-gay roads in Davao City, longer than the length of the national and city roads, re-corded at 122.41 kilometers and 721.79 kilometers, respectively, combined.

65 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 BillionThe total inward investments poured into the city since the implementation of the Davao City Investment Incentive Code in 1995 up to 2014. No registra-tions were made in 1998, 1999, and 2012, the years when the code under-went amendments.

P20.59 BillionThe total amount of property develop-ment projects recorded in 2013, the big-gest investment in the industry posted in a single year.

1.5 MillionThe total number of tourists who visited Davao City in 2014, with estimated tour-ist receipts amounting to P17.13 million.

11,361Total 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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DAVAO CITY LANDSCAPE. City Information OfficeBEST PRACTICES AND

LANDMARK PROJECTSvestment 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 to-taled to P3.3 billion in 1995, poured in by 44 investors in the field of agribusi-ness, light manufacturing, property development, tourism, and transship-ment.

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

1998, 1999, and 2012, the years when the code underwent amendments. Last year, five investors applied for in-centives 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 competitive-ness index.

Women and children’s rightsDavao 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 coun-try, 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 pioneer-ing initiative that aimed to empower women and shield them from any form of abuse in the process of their own de-velopment.

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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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 911Davao City is also pioneering in

introducing innovative measures to promote and maintain peace and se-curity.

On september 27, 2002, the Cen-tral Communications and Emergen-cy 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 mem-orization, the combination of num-bers 9-1-1 was selected as the access number to the facility. It is now bet-ter known as Davao City Central 911. Davao City became only the third lo-cality 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.

Central 911 was a recipient of the Civil service Commission Pag-Asa Award in 2014.Anti-Smoking Campaign

Davao City provides a leading ex-ample 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.

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 Ordi-nance of Davao City.

Under the new ordinance, the en-tire 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 wheth-er covered by a roof or not, or even if open on all sides but is covered by a roof, regardless of whether the struc-ture is permanent or temporary in na-ture, that are accessible or open to the public, whether or not by invitation or by payment, or all places for collec-tive use, regardless of ownership or right to access including but not lim-ited to gasoline stations, banks, malls, shopping/business arcades, town squares, terminals, airport, seaport, schools, places of worships/churches, hospitals, cinema houses, gymnasi-ums, covered courts, funeral parlors, barbershops, cockpits, gaming areas,


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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.

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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 OBjeCtiveSDavao 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 BeGiNNiNGSIn 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 Computer-Aided 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 DODavao Central 911 uses Emergency Computer Aided Dispatch

(ECAD) that enables the authorities to locate the distress calls and gives assistance to the citizens that needs emergency resources of the government.

IN TIMES OF URGENT NEED...


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recreational facilities, pedestrian over-pass, indoor car parks, waiting sheds, sidewalks and other places where peo-ple usually congregate.

The Anti-smoking Task Force was established to monitor compliance and implementation of the Comprehen-sive 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-smok-ing Laws (City Ordinance 0367-12 se-ries of 2012 “The New Comprehensive Anti-smoking Ordinance of Davao City” and Republic Act 9211 “Tobacco Regu-lation Act of 2003”).

Liquor BanThe 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,

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 restau-rants are allowed to serve liquors and alcoholic beverages up to 12:00 mid-night.

The liquor ban is intended to lessen noise emanating from bars and oth-er 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 Or-dinance 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 nui-sance, prohibiting the same, punishing violation thereof and for other purpos-es.”

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

Firecracker BanTo reduce or avoid casualties result-

ing from the use of firecrackers, the city government enacted Ordinance No. 060-02 series of 2002 or An Ordi-nance prohibiting the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession or use of firecrackers or pyrotechnic devices and such other similar devices and the ex-ploding of firecrackers or other similar explosives within the territorial juris-diction of Davao City.

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

HIGHWAY PATROL GROUP Lean Daval Jr.


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Speed LimitTo 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 Oth-er 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 por-tions of the city.

Complementary to this measure is Ordinance No. 0445-10 series of 2010 or “An Ordinance prohibiting and pe-nalizing the act of driving a motor vehi-cle 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 Or-dinance 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 Pro-tection, Conservation and Manage-ment Ordinance is designed among others to institutionalize mechanisms to facilitate the economic sustainability of the watershed areas without jeopar-dizing 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 Ordi-nance. The new ordinance embodies salient provisions which include the de-lineation 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 prohib-ited, the rural settlement zone where industries are not allowed to operate and the fish sanctuary area where scu-ba diving, fishing activities or even the passage of all types of boats are pro-hibited.

Both documents sought to address new realities that Davao City has to confront including the continuing pol-lution of coastal waters and denuda-tion 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.

DAVAO 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 Ur-banized City.

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

Established through Executive Or-der No. 195 in 1999, the award aims to encourage more LGUs to initiate programs and projects promoting chil-dren’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 Pres-ident. The CWC is the primary Philip-pine government agency mandated, among others, to coordinate programs and interventions among government and non-government institutions that have a stake in the welfare and devel-opment of Filipino children.

According to CWC, the award also seeks to ensure child-friendly gover-nance across the country, reflected through LGU policies, programs, and interventions implemented to address various child-related issues and prob-lems. 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 chil-dren‘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 devel-opment with gender perspective.

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

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Dute-rte has declared that the rights of the child “will remain at the top of our pri-orities.”

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

sponsibility in the delivery of educa-tion, health and nutrition, shelter, safe environment and other protective and rehabilitative services in order to en-sure their holistic growth and develop-ment,” 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 rec-ognized as a valuable human resource of the community and where produc-tive 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 govern-ment’s sense of duty and account-ability for the recognition, protection, promotion and fulfillment of the rights and welfare of women and children in Davao City. Within the limits of our re-sources, we have exerted our best pos-sible 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 com-munities,” he added.

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PHOTO BY LEAN DAVAL JR.

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