Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co has sharply criticized the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Philippine National Police (PNP)’s rollout of the Safer Cities Initiative (SCI), calling it a “discredited model of policing” that criminalizes poverty and threatens youth rights.
“Pakitang-tao lang ang pagsabi na ‘implementation of existing ordinances’ lang ang Safer Cities Initiative,” Co said.
“Ang totoo at napatunayan na ng kasaysayan: the Safer Cities Initiative, as also launched in the Philippines by the DILG and PNP under President Marcos Jr.’s directive, is a dangerous and discredited model of policing with a documented history of failure and abuse.”
Roots in Los Angeles’ Skid Row
Co pointed out that the SCI blueprint traces back to Los Angeles’ Skid Row in the mid-2000s, where the program was condemned for criminalizing homelessness.
“That program was widely condemned for criminalizing poverty and homelessness, using massive police resources to target survival activities like sleeping or sitting on sidewalks,” she noted, citing reports from the Los Angeles Community Action Network that documented human rights violations and constant police harassment.
Targeting the Poor
According to Co, the language of “public order” enforcement disproportionately affects the poor. “Iyon ang ibig sabihin natin when we say this policy is fundamentally ‘anti-poor’.”
She explained that prohibitions such as drinking in streets, being shirtless due to the heat, or gathering in public spaces are normalized adaptations to economic hardship.
“This discriminatory enforcement will not be applied to bars in business districts or private gatherings in affluent subdivisions, exposing the class bias at its core,” she added.
Campus Militarization Concerns
The legislator also raised alarm over the deployment of police personnel to schools under SCI.
“Given the documented record of state-led red-tagging and harassment against activists, this presence will inevitably be abused to monitor, intimidate, and suppress progressive student leaders and organizations,” Co warned.
“Schools will transform from sanctuaries of learning into extensions of the security apparatus.”
Call for Genuine Safety Through Social Justice
Co argued that intensified police presence will only normalize abuse and brutality, while failing to address root causes of crime such as economic instability and inflation.
“It will not be solved with a baton or a curfew,” she said. Instead, she urged the administration to focus on poverty alleviation.
“Kung gusto ni President Marcos Jr. na protektahan ang kabataan at mamamayan, seryosohin nila ang pagresolba ng kahirapan sa Pilipinas. Kontrolin ang presyo ng langis, pondohan ang mga batayang serbisyong panlipunan, tanggalin ang VAT at iba pang regresibong buwis, at ikulong ang mga korap sa gobyerno na parasitiko sa pondo ng bayan.”
Her statement concluded with a rallying cry: “Serbisyo sa tao, huwag gawing negosyo! Karapatan ng mamamayan, ipaglaban!” # (ZIA LUNA)
