Former Davao City representative Karlo Nograles on Sunday bared his “SAFER Davao” agenda aimed at creating a clear and doable blueprint that builds on the peace and order gains of Davao City so that its residents and visitors can be protected from all kinds of crime, including online and high-tech scams.
According to Nograles, “Davao has always been considered the safest city in the country. Every Davaoeño is proud of that. What we want is to expand the breadth of our safety and security efforts so that we can say that our people are SAFER not just offline, but online as well.”
The longtime public servant added that law enforcement and City Hall would need to reach out to the public to become more effective.
SAFER, according to Nograles, is an acronym for five key elements:
• Secure lives and protect our families, communities, schools, and workplaces;
• Address criminality, drugs, lawlessness, and cybercrime;
• Foster trust and confidence in our city government and our law enforcers;
• Ensure peace and order for all; and
• Respect the rule of law and reach out and work with every member of our Davao City community.
“Our plan is simple yet comprehensive. It’s easy to understand. Every element is important. SAFER Davao also allows us to pick urgent priorities depending on the situation,” said the former Civil Service Commission Chair.
“For example, Securing the lives of Davao City residents means we should have the infrastructure and equipment for our police to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. That means more CCTV installations throughout the city, more patrol vehicles with dashcams, even possibly having body cams for our law enforcers,” said Nograles.
“We also need to prepare ourselves for 21st century crime, the kind that uses technology to steal from e-wallets. This is why when we say we will Address criminality, this includes cybercrime. As more people adopt these Fintech innovations, the more they will become tempting targets. These are not only doable, these are necessities in a modern police force,” explained Nograles.
The longtime public servant added that law enforcement and City Hall would need to reach out to the public to become more effective. “Maaaring better equipped at better trained ang kapulisan natin, pero kung mababa ang tiwala at kooperasyon ng taong-bayan, mahirap. So we need to Foster trust and confidence in our city government and in law enforcement authorities.”
“For us to Ensure peace and order for all, we bring the fight directly to the big fish in our anti-drug and anti-crime campaigns. But at the same time, we must ensure Respect for the rule of law. These two aims can and should go hand in hand,” stressed the lawyer.
Nograles pointed out that “the SAFER Davao initiative is part of our overall thrust to ensure that the people of Davao City see, hear, and feel City Hall in their lives.”
He added that this involves detailed programs that include a more comprehensive hotline and reporting mechanism, counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency programs, emergency and disaster response, plus many others.
“Upgrading. Modernization. Technology. To improve and move forward, we need fresh perspectives and new plans. We love Davao and we believe that we must be ready to level up—because criminals are leveling up as well.”
