Davao City is the second safest city in Southeast Asia in 2023, based on data from global database Numbeo, a recognition that local authorities attribute to cooperation among law enforcement agencies, local government, and the community.

“Mao na ang resulta kapaningkamot nato sa panggobyerno diri sa Davao City,” said Angel Sumagaysay, chief of the Davao City Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO).

Davao City got a safety index score of 72.4 based on Numbeo’s Southeast Asia Safety Index for 2023.

The city follows Number 1 Chiang Mai in Thailand and ahead of Singapore, which ranks third. Penang in Malaysia and Hanoi in Vietnam are in the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

According to its website, “Numbeo is the world’s largest cost of living database” and “also a crowd-sourced global database of quality of life data: housing indicators, perceived crime rates, healthcare quality, transport quality, and other statistics.”

The Police Regional Office-Davao (PRO-11) said the safety index is based on the overall level of crime in a city or country. The data is derived from surveys conducted by Numbeo.

“Na-recognize ang effort ug sakripisyo sa atoang mga kapulisan. Ang ilang mga walay tulog nga mga adlaw, narecognize esp. sa atong mga drug buy-bust operation,” Davao City Police Office (DCPO) Spokesperson, Captain Hazel Tuazon, said.

DCPO urged the public to report incidents to authorities first, not prioritize posting it on social media.

“Kay atong ginapaningkamutan gyud nga kung mo-report dayon, madakpan nato dayon ang suspek. Kung dili man madakpan, ma-identify, ma-file nato ang kaso sa korte,” Tuazon added.

Despite the issues on security in the past weeks, the city remains peaceful.

“Very normal, very peaceful ang Davao City… business as usual. Padayon lang ta, mao gani ni nga ato gayud i-sustain kana nga resulta sa survey,” Sumagaysay said.