Davao Mayor Duterte moonlights, fights crime as taxi driver

Because he wanted to see the situation for himself and wanted to get his hands on muggers, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte disguised himself as a taxi driver, nightly patrolling and picking up fares in Davao City.

Duterte was accompanied by his security team, who followed his cab in two pick-up trucks. “Nakikita ko ang totoong larawan ng lungsod,” said Duterte in a GMA 7 "24 Oras" report.



Pictures of him driving the cab circulated on social media and made his activity known to the public.

“Kapag may nagreklamo sa akin, tulad ng 'Mayor, maraming hold-up sa Bajada', 'yan iikot ako. Kapag meron akong makita, ah,” exclaimed Duterte, who added that muggers should beware if they should ever get in his cab.

The move was comparable to Norway's Labor Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's moonlighting as a taxi driver. The popular PM also said that he wanted to hear what real Norwegian voters really thought, and in a comment to Norwegian media, said “If there is one place people really say what they think about most things, it's in the taxi."

However, Time Magazine reported that part of Stoltenberg's taxi stunt was staged.

It said five of the 14 passengers involved in his stint were contacted via a casting call and were paid 500 kroner or P3,670.62. The five were not told that it was the PM who would drive them, but were informed that the video would be for the PM's Labour Party.

The Norwegian PM told the Norwegian tablod Verdens Gang, which broke the news, that he only knew the use of planted passengers after the video was already made.

In another unconventional move, the Duterte decided to hold office outside the city hall on Tuesday after a blown transformer caused a blackout. He listened to the people who gathered around his desk, who were thrilled by the mayor's unorthodox ploy.

Despite Davao being proclaimed by numbeo.com to be one of the safest cities in the world, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) criticized Duterte for his “shoot to kill” order against suspected abductors.

“Kahit sino pa man ito, dapat mahuli ng buhay ang pinaghihinalaan, at ang pinakamahalaga 'yung due process, 'yung makakolekta tayo ng ebidensya... na siyang magiging batayan para sabihin kung culpable ba o hindi," said CHR chief Etta Rosales last July 16.

Duterte's lawyer Salvador Panelo brushed off Rosales' comment and explained the "shoot-to-kill" order was a "euphemism," which meant police officers should defend themselves in dangerous situations. — Rie Takumi/DVM/KBK, GMA News