DAVAO and Valenzuela cities have been included in the top 10 list of Southeast Asian (SEA) cities with the lowest crime rates, online database Numbeo said.
Numbeo placed Davao City on second and Valenzuela was third, following Singapore, which is in first place.
Numbeo is the world’s largest database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide. It gives current information on each city’s cost of living, housing indicators, health care, traffic, crime and pollution.
As of June 17, Davao City’s crime index was placed at only 17.93, while Valenzuela City’s crime index was 28.32, with 0 perceived as “very low” and 100 as “very high,” beating other cities from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos PDR and Brunei Darussalam.
The figures are based on the perceptions of the web site’s visitors in the past three years, according to Numbeo.
In the subcategory “Worries of being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin or religion” under “Crime rates,” the cities of Davao and Valenzuela got a “very low” rating of 11.41 and 14.13, respectively.
Visitors do not perceive that crime has been increasing in the two cities in the past three years, giving a “very low” score for Valenzuela (16.30) and Davao (17.76).
In terms of safety while walking alone during the day and at night, visitors gave Valenzuela City a “very high” grade of 85.87 and a “high” score of 64.67, respectively.
Davao City also got a “very high” grade of 90. 31 and a “very high” score of 82.32 in terms of safety while walking alone during the day and at night, respectively.
Currently, Davao is headed by Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, who is known for his strict implementation of the law.
Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City said, “The efforts of the local government in maintaining peace and order in the city have been paying off as citizens themselves reap the benefits of these labors and speak of safety and security in their city.”
Gatchalian, who served as Valenzuela mayor for nine years, said being the third among the Southeast Asian region’s top 10 cities with the lowest crime rate only means that the city’s police must strive harder to further improve the city’s peace and order situation, which translates to the safety of its residents.
“This means that the police and local officials, including those in the barangays, should continue to work harder to keep the city safe and keep the crime rate at a very low level,” added Gatchalian, a majority member of the House Committee on Local Government.
Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum underlines safety and security as one of the pillars of its Travel & Tourism (T&T) Competitiveness Index.
“Safety and security is a critical factor determining the competitiveness of a country’s T&T industry. Tourists are likely to be deterred from traveling to dangerous countries or regions, making the T&T sector less attractive to develop in those places. Here, we take into account the costliness of common crime and violence, as well as terrorism, and the extent to which police services can be relied upon for protection from crime,” said the World Economic Forum in a report.