Davao City declares Walden persona non grata; ‘Sara threatening me,’ says Bello

Davao City on Tuesday declared vice presidential candidate Professor Walden Bello persona non grata after he claimed that the city is the center of drug trade in the southern Philippines.

The proposed resolution signed by City Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang said that Bello’s “malicious tirades” discredit the efforts and commitment of the city government's employees.

“Bello’s persistent attacks will debilitate Davao City’s economic recovery efforts, especially in promoting the city’s tourism and investment opportunities to the local and international scene, and ultimately affect Davao City’s reputable governance to the public in general,” the resolution read.

“As we condemn Walden Bello’s acts, we also vehemently declare that he is not welcome to enter the borders, and the entire territorial jurisdiction of Davao City,” it added.

In response, Bello said that he is “unconcerned and unbothered” by the resolution, which he called a decision made by “Davao elites.”

“I consider ordinary people in Davao to be far more important than those privileged few who have sold their souls to the Dutertes. My conversations with these people last week—with workers, farmers, professionals and so on—have revealed an immense dissatisfaction with the corruption and hypocrisy of the city's dynasty,” he said in a statement.

He then repeated his call for Davao City's mayor, his fellow vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte, to show up in election debates and to stop sending “lackeys” like the Davao City Council to “try to wash her dirty laundry.”

“To Davao City, I say, I shall return!” Bello added.

'Illogical'

Bello also accused the mayor's camp of trying to silence him by threatening his life for exposing “major issues” in the city. 

Duterte's regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) has accused Bello of being a “narcopolitician,” saying that based on his claims, "it's apparent that [Bello] holds information about the illegal drugs but deliberately kept it from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police," and that by doing so he is a "narcopolitician."

Bello slammed the remark as illogical.

"Obviously the logic is non-existent. Hindi ko nga alam what kind of people are behind the propaganda of Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) kasi talagang illogical ‘yan [I don’t know what kind of people are behind HNP’s propaganda because that is illogical]. What can you say, it’s ridiculous. In other words, I think they were running out of arguments for not showing up in debates," he said in a virtual press conference.

HNP also said it has requested an investigation into the “extent” of the ex-legislator’s knowledge and involvement in the alleged illegal drug trade in the city.

“‘Yung threat of arrest, hindi ho ‘yan ‘yung talagang banta na gusto nilang ipaabot sa akin. Ang banta talaga na gustong ipaabot sakin eh ‘yung threat that if I don’t stop talking, then I could be EJK-ed,” Bello said.

(That threat of arrest is not their real threat that they want to convey to me. What they want me to know is that if I don’t stop talking, then I could be extrajudicially killed.)

“Basically it is an attempt to silence me by threatening my life,” he added.

'Confusing me with Polong'

IS SARA SETTING ME UP TO BE KILLED?
Statement by Prof. Walden Bello, vice presidential candidate of Laban ng Masa and Partido Lakas ng Masa pic.twitter.com/U5Zq2NWiVZ

— Walden Bello (@WaldenBello) March 22, 2022

In a separate statement, Bello denied that he “knowingly and purposely refused to disclose information or cooperate with the authorities” as there were no government agencies that asked any information from him to begin with.

“Not only have I never been involved in the drug trade, I have never even been rumored to be involved in the drug trade—unlike certain members of the Duterte family. Maybe Sara Duterte’s party is confusing me for Polong Duterte?” he said.

Bello is facing cyber libel complaints filed against him by former Davao City chief information officer Jefry Tupas, over the former lawmaker’s statement that the latter attended a party at a beach resort in Davao de Oro in November 2021 that was raided by the PDEA.

Some P1.5 million worth of party drugs were seized in the operation.

Aside from these, Bello previously called Duterte a "coward like Bongbong Marcos," her running mate, for refusing to face the public in vice presidential debates.

Bello thus reiterated his call for Duterte to attend election debates to answer all the scrutiny thrown at her.

“I think Sara is perfectly capable of being in a debate and answering questions. Hindi ito [This is not a] question of her ability. Lawyer siya [She is a lawyer],” he added.

Duterte earlier said that she will not be taking part in any debates for Eleksyon 2022.

GMA News Online has reached out to Duterte's camp for comment. — BM, GMA News