Here’s something we learned from this New York Times report filed in Davao City by correspondent Floyd Whaley.
There is a Public Safety and Security Command Center where staff regularly monitor 170 closed-circuit television cameras situated all over the city.
“When a crime is detected, even one as minor as littering, a police officer is dispatched to the scene to deliver a warning or to write out a citation if the person is a repeat offender,” a supervisor told NYT.
The report also reveals an organized red light strip on a “clean, well-lit street” just outside the local Central Bank office.
The prostitutes are allegedly called “central bankers” and they “walk the street without fear of arrest.”
That’s because prostitution in Davao City “is considered a health issue for the women involved, not a police matter.”
According to a police spokeswoman quoted in the report, “We have a city ordinance that they should have a health card, but prostitution is not considered a crime by the woman.”
