Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, on Tuesday, said that the success of Oplan Tokhan launched by Duterte administration could not be measured alone by statistics.
In an interview, Magalong, who’s a retired general of the Philippine National Police, said that Robredo’s claim that Oplan Tokhang based on the statistics is only her opinion and cannot be proven.
Robredo said that only 1% of narcotics and money had been confiscated by the authorities yearly.
However, Magalong said that in his experience, the real success of Oplan Tokhang would only be measured by asking the people if they feel safer now than before.
“Opinyon niya ‘yan eh. You will only know your impact pag bumaba ka at nakausap mo ang mga tao na nakaramdam na safe and secure na sila ngayon. Sa amin, as far as we are concerned, significant ang improvement. As Mayor of the City of Baguio, I felt it. Hindi statistics ang pagbabatayan mo diyan eh,” Magalong said.
“I was talking to [communities in the] grassroots, [at] very significant ang impact sa aming security at safety. Maybe that is the reason why napakataas ng rating ng ating Presidente,” he added.
Robredo on Monday said that the government only focused on the street-level while the big fishes are still bringing supply to the country.
She then suggested to scrap Oplan Tokhang and give more funds on rehabilitation.
President Rodrigo Duterte, however, told Robredo not to lecture him and just do her suggestions on her own if she became the chief executive of the country someday.