It does not take much to see that the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is on a mission to destroy Davao City.

Refusing to come to terms with the city’s enviable reputation as the country’s safest city and Numbeo website’s second safest city in Southeast Asia with a 72.4 safety index, the present leadership has set about to destroy that image.

Much has been said about the infamous rigodon of police chiefs, which culminated with Davao’s distinction of having four city police directors in one day. This was embarrassing, but it is for all to see that it was no fault of the city and its citizens. Only the PNP hierarchy can issue appointments—in this case, all three of them in one day.

Of course, it has something to do with the present administration’s obsession with Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church. Obsession is a strong word, but there is no other way to describe its fixationthat started with a police operation in which law enforcers barreled into church grounds at dawn to serve a warrant of arrest.

The operations against Quiboloy have scandalized even retired police and military officers, including Sen. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa and Gen. Orlando de Leon.

“Sa iyo ba ang property na ‘yan para mag-stay ka ng isangbuwan diyan (KOJC)?... Kung ang hinahanap mo ay limang taolang, ‘yun ang hanapin mo…. Hindi mo pwedeng i-occupy ang property ng KOJC… Ano ang basehan mo? Wala kang court order para i-occupy ang property na ‘yan. Wala,” de la Rosa said, addressing Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III.

Obviously taking hidden instructions from powerful people, as de la Rosa remarked, Torre had categorically accused the Davao City police of manipulating crime statistics to create a misleading impression of low crime rates.

“You cease to be a respectable organization the moment you act and look more criminal than the criminals you want to catch,” de Leon lamented on his Facebook page. Of course, command responsibility goes all the way up to Gen. Rommel Marbil, who was himself chastised by Vice President Sara Duterte for talking too much over the relief of her escorts.

The PNP under Marcos has not done anything close to the hunt for Quiboloy against a criminal syndicate, elusive drug lords, or murderers. The PNP’s only other fixation is the continuing operations against selected POGO as part of its efforts to demonize former President Rodrigo Duterte and people identified with him.

Far from being intimidated by the Marcos administration's obvious efforts to disrupt, if not destroy, Davaoeños are standing their ground.

Mayor Sebastian Duterte did not take Torre’s accusations seriously and lashed out at the latter for disrupting peace and security in the region. He noted that Torre was declared persona non grata when assigned to Samar for engaging in partisan political activities, even as he disputed the latter’s claims of manipulated police reports.

“So that is what this is? Davao has actually been in trouble for a long time, and we have been just fooling ourselves until now?” the mayor retorted angrily in Cebuano.

Noting that Torre had a pre-conceived narrative when he arrived in Davao, Mayor Duterte said the way Torre is behaving, it is evident that someone is telling him what to do.

“It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake,” the late journalist and cynic H. L. Mencken once remarked.

Mayor Duterte has spewed profanities to express his indignation over Torre’s cavalier attitude toward Davao’s proud reputation, and he was not mistaken for feeling betrayed.

Once toiling under the notorious reputation as “Killing Fields”, the turn-around way back to the first term of the mayor’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, has been a badge of honor worn by its citizens ever since.

On the other hand, the family’s critics and political rivals had been noticeably silent since the controversy erupted, probably hoping that Torre would embarrass the Dutertes. Their silence is their biggest undoing, for it was a virtual admission that personal agenda matters more than the city's reputation and its people's sentiments.

More than anybody, they are the biggest losers in Davao’s misfortunes.