Sara: Davao City gaining ground vs rising rapes

DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sara Duterte on Friday said the city government had brought down the number of rape cases here amid reports, which her own father cited, that Davao posted the highest number of sexual assault cases among urban centers across the country.

“This fact was taken up in the Davao City Peace and Order Council in 2017, where it was discovered that many of these cases were incestuous rape or rape by someone who had close relationship with the victim,” Mayor Duterte said in a statement.

She said the city’s social services and development office, tasked with conducting research and implementing programs to curb the rising number of incest cases, had initiated measures in communities.

Educational campaign

One of the measures, which Mayor Duterte said was most effective, was an educational campaign “where children are taught about sexuality and sexual abuse, including when a touch by a family member is no longer appropriate and acceptable.”

A report from the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management of the Philippine National Police released last week ranked Davao City as No. 1 in number of rapes recorded among major cities nationwide from April to June this year.

Davao City posted the highest number of rape cases with 42 during the period.

It was followed by Quezon City with 41, Manila with 32, Cagayan de Oro with 24 and Zamboanga City with 21.

Look beyond jokes

Mayor Duterte also urged the public to look beyond President Duterte’s latest rape joke and his critics’ take on it to see how her administration had addressed the city’s rape cases.

Women’s rights advocates and the administration’s critics pounced on the President again when Mr. Duterte joked at a speech in Mandaue City that the number of rape cases was high in his home city because there were many beautiful women there.

Mayor Duterte, the President’s daughter, said the city government had exerted effort to reduce the number of incest cases in Davao to 95 since January this year, down by 20 percent from the 120 cases reported in the same period in 2017. — FRINSTON LIM