Cagayan de Oro starts full enforcement of curfew on minors

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines  – As the city government implements a curfew for minors aged 15 and below, the local social welfare office has sought the help of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to order all barangay officials to enforce the ordinance.

“Now that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has announced the nationwide curfew, we would like the DILG to put teeth into the law and put the barangay officials to act and implement it,” said City Social Welfare Officer Teddy Sabuga-a.

Sabuga-a said the city will now fully implement the curfew and has released guidelines to coincide with the opening of classes in June, though barangay-level implementation has been difficult.

Sabuga-a said this is because “for some barangay officials, curfew is not part of their advocacy.”

He said the curfew’s objectives are to strengthen responsibility among parents over their children as a basic obligation and to strengthen “advocacy in protecting children at risk from becoming children in conflict with the law, thereby curtailing incidence of crimes committed by children in partnership with various stakeholders.”

Updated ordinance, exceptions

The city-wide curfew for minors is based on a 1994 city codified ordinance, but needed to be updated as it conflicted with the Juvenile Justice Act and Welfare Act, or Republic Act 9344 and RA 10630, according to Sabuga-a.

Under the ordinance, no child aged 15 and below “shall roam, nightclubs, cocktail lounges, massage clinics, beer houses, discotheque joints or saloons, cabarets or liquor stores or stands, gambling places, plazas, parks, recreation halls, billiard halls, parlors, bowling alleys, theater lobbies, sidewalks, hotels, and all other similar establishments” between 10 pm to 5 am.

Exceptions are the eve of the town fiesta, Charter Day and other city holidays, Christmas, New Year’s Day, All Souls Day, All Saints Day, Good Friday, and Holy Thursday up to Easter Sunday. Those who have just attended and are going home from school, civic or religious gatherings, or social occasions are also exempted.

Sabuga-a said the city government is still waiting for the approval of the Enhanced Parental Responsibility Ordinance filed before the city council.

Barangay implementation

Marlon Tabac, chairperson of Barangay Gusa, one of the biggest barangays in the city,  is at the forefront of implementing the curfew to protect children.

On December 2013, Tabac conducted a month-long barangay-wide information dissemination campaign to raise awareness on the curfew. By January the following year, the curfew law was in full effect in his barangay.

“Our implementation of the curfew has been working because we are seriously enforcing it,” Tabac said, adding that he uses a bullhorn heard throughout the barangay to sound off the start of the curfew at 10 pm.

His watchmen would go around the barangay telling children to go home or they would be brought to the office of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC). 

“We have two dedicated personnel at night at the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) at the barangay hall who will attend to children rescued by the barangay tanod,” Tabac said.

He added that the BCPC will contact the parents of the rescued children, and they will be meted penalties depending on the number of offenses.

Records from the City Social Welfare Department (CSWD) showed that of the city’s 80 Barangays, only 16 have an active curfew implementation, topped by Barangay Gusa.

New guidelines

These are the new guidelines on the implementation of the curfew:

• The barangay, through its BCPC including tanods have the right to rescue children during curfew hours
• Every rescued child has to be included in the police station blotter or the barangay level blotter
• Every barangay must have a halfway house where children can temporarily sleep, and also serve as temporary shelter for rescued children
• Every child shall be interviewed to get primary information
• Every child shall be interviewed by the authorized staff of the BCPC who are trained by the CSWD on child-related laws to uphold the Rights of the Child
  
• The child shall be released to their parents or guardian provided that they have undergone counseling. Children whose parents cannot be found, shall be turned over to the CSWD.

“The National Police is also tasked to be the prime protector of the child and shall participate in rescue of minors during curfew hours,” Sabuga-a said.

Sabuga-a also said that the city social welfare office is renovating its shelter  to make it as comfortable as possible.

He admitted that sustaining a successful campaign required the full participation of parents, schools, interfaith communities, and development workers.

“We all need to work together to make this a sustainable campaign and we need all the help we can get, after all, this is for the protection of our children,” he said.

Several cities have announced that they would implement a curfew for minors following the statement of Duterte that he wants a nationwide curfew for those aged 18 and below from 10 pm to 5 am, similar to the Davao City ordinance.

Bahay Tuluyan, an organization with 29 years of experience working with children in need of special protection, has condemned Duterte’s plan to imprison parents of children found on the streets after curfew, among other things.

It cited a study it conducted in 2008 which suggests that government “rescue” – even through curfew and in the name of protection – are “indiscriminate, involuntary, harmful and ineffective” measures. – Rappler.com