Davao City declares Trillanes persona non grata

MANILA, Philippines — The Davao City Council on Tuesday has declared Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as unwanted and unwelcome following his remarks on the city.

In a forum with the Filipino American Human Rights Alliance in Chicago, Trillanes called Davao City "the most dangerous city in the Philippines."

Davao City Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag, during a regular session of the city council, moved to declare the senator "persona non grata," according to a report from Davao Today.

Trillanes, during the forum in Chicago, claimed that crime Davao City was rampant during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte as mayor.

"Number one ang Davao City sa murder at number two sa rape sa buong Pilipinas. So in fact, based on statistics, Davao City is actually the most dangerous city in the Philippines," Trillanes said.

Al-ag, meanwhile, called out Trillanes for "mocking the intelligence" of the citizens of Davao City.

"Declaring that my city is the most dangerous city in the Philippines is not acceptable! This is an insult to the 1.6 million Dabawenyos who are working hard everyday to make our city safe," the vice mayor said.

The Davao vice mayor also challenged the Filipinos in Chicago who attended the senator's forum to visit the city to see that it is not dangerous.

"Mr. Trillanes, we do not need you here in Davao City. You are unwelcome and unwanted in our city of Davao. You have not done anything good at all to our city," Al-ag said in a statement.

In response to the city's declaration, Trillanes said that his statement was based on December 2015 data from the local police that Davao City had the highest incidence of murder and second highest in rape.

"The people of Davao either know it but tolerate it out of fear or they've actually believed the lie that was fed to them that Davao City is the safest city in the world," Trillanes said.