(Eagle News) — “Hold and secure.”
This was how Davao Mayor Sara Duterte described the current security situation in the city, which was under a lockdown on Tuesday night.
Under a lockdown, no one was allowed inside and outside Davao City.
“So inadjust na namin iyan ngayon. We are doing a hold and secure—increased security measures inside Davao City and going into Davao City considering there are incidents that are happening outside of Davao City. What we are doing now is preventing the violence from coming in Davao City, and preventing violence from erupting inside the city,” she said in a press conference on Wednesday.
She said parents were “discourage(d)” from allowing their minor children to go out at night.
School security personnel have also been told not to allow strangers inside the school premises.
“There will be increased patrolling sa lahat ng areas ng Davao City kasali na ang night market dun,” she said, noting that the market would remain open.
Duterte sought to allay the public’s fears, saying that the declaration of martial law “will not stop, will not prevent the operation of our Philippine Constitution.”
“So lahat ng nasa bill of rights na nakalagay sa Constitution natin, lahat yun in effect. That’s why sa guidelines natin ‘discourage’ (ang gamit) unless of course may violation of existing laws,” she said.
“Sa martial law naman kasi kung wala kang tinatago, kung di kriminal, kung di ka Maute group, di ka member ng (ISIS), there is no reason na matakot ka,” she added.
She noted that the military and the police “understand that there is a need to be respectful to all unless proven otherwise that you are a criminal or a terrorist.”
“Ang sinasabi lang namin, pag lumabas kayo at chineck kayo, present (a) valid ID and properly explain sa mga nagcoconduct ng checkpoint or nagcoconduct ng interviews sa inyo kung ano ginagawa niyo,” she said.
