THIS was what Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio told new Davao City Police Office Director Senior Superintendent Alexander Tagum.
“I just told him to do his job and not to listen to anyone. I told him that he just needed to do his duties and responsibilities as our city director and to cascade it to his men,” the mayor said.
True. In this world where everyone has discovered his and her voice, especially in social media, just about everyone has a say on who, what, where, why, and how of just about any one's role in society. That is the best advice the mayor can give the embattled Tagum who is starting off from a very bad precedent action.
“Dunay similar nga mga panghitabo sa Davao nga mga ingon ana pud (there are a lot of similar events in Davao), I’m sure he learned a lot from that experience and from that situation. Kung nay mahitabo dinhi sa (If something happens in) Davao City, he will know what to do,” the mayor said.
Tagum is being protested against by militants as he was the police provincial director of North Cotabato when the bloody dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City last April 1, 2016 was ordered by provincial officials.
Three died while more than ten were injured when soldiers and policemen fired at 6,000 farmers demanding 15,000 sacks of rice promised as relief assistance following the months-long drought. Worse, as Davao City moved to donate a truckful of rice the following day, North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza resented this and lashed at those who donated.
The donations were a spontaneous act by Dabawenyos upon hearing of the bloody dispersal. Even as it was Saturday and there was no work at the City Hall, people were arriving with their rice donations, from a few kilos to several sacks.
The donations were dispatched soon after, but this was not allowed to be delivered to the farmers who at that time were already holed up in the Spottwoods United Methodist Church compound as law enforcers were arresting protesters outside.
"Bigla kayong darating, magbibigay ng bigas? Nang-i-insulto ba kayo o namumulitiko kayo?" Mendoza said in a press conference the following day.
Taking it from there, the mayor indeed raises a valid point in saying that she expects Tagum to have learned a lot from that experience.
"Tagam" is a Visayan word referring to lessons learned from a bad experience. We hope indeed that Tagum was "natagam" by the massacre and have come to realize that when you level guns on protesters and start firing, somebody's going to drop dead.
The violent dispersal that killed two and several other poor farmers demanding for food also shows how rabid politicians can be when public opinion is against them and cannot see beyond an election campaign and what such a violent turnout can do to them politically.
Indeed, there is wisdom in the mayor's advice to Tagum to just do his job, anyway, the mayor herself also said that she will not stop protesters from their rallies against the police chief.
That is what democracy is all about. But when guns are leveled against civilians and fired, that is no longer democracy that is despotism.