MANILA, Philippines — Liberal Party vice-presidential candidate Rep. Leni Robredo on Friday said Naga City was able to achieve the same level of development as Davao City without the strongman leadership of an official like Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
"We achieved the same results in Naga... 'yung peace and order, 'yung discipline among the people... we achieved the same things without that kind of attitude," Robredo said in an interview with The Philippine STAR.
Robredo's late husband, former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, was for 19 years mayor of Naga City, from 1988 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2010.
Liberal Party vice-presidential candidate Leni Robredo speaks with editors of the Philippine STAR on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015. Video by Philstar.com / Efigenio Toledo IV
Naga City was cited in 1999 as one of the most improved cities in Asia and the late mayor was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000.
"I don't subscribe to that kind of leadership," Leni said, referring to Duterte's willingness to resort to harsh methods in dealing with criminality.
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"It may have worked in Davao and in many other places... but based on experience we were able to achieve the same results without resorting to those things," she said.