By RALPH JOHN MIJARES
ROXAS City — A city councilor here was lamenting what he claimed to be the non-implementation of Ordinance No. 011–2011, or the Roxas City Curfew Ordinance for Minors.
Councilor Powell del Rosario, author of the ordinance, urged city policemen under Supt. Julio Gustilo Jr. to review the measure.
There are still many minors loitering at the city proper at night, del Rosario said during a recent City Council session.
The ordinance prohibits anyone 18 years old and below from loitering on streets and in public places or establishments here from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
It also considers unlawful for parents or guardians to tolerate minors being in a public place during the said curfew hours.
Gustilo, who attended the session to report on the city’s peace and order, said the police could not arrest the minors violating the ordinance.
He also claimed that Mayor Angel Alan Celino suspended the implementation of the ordinance because it is in conflict with Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.
Neither the Roxas City police station nor the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) has facilities to accommodate the violators, he said, adding that CSWDO is closed in the evening.
Del Rosario argued, however, that the ordinance does not require the arrest of minors. The local law was not suspended, it was just not being implemented, he stressed.
On first offense, violators must be referred to CSWDO, or the nearest police station, barangay hall, or tanod outpost, for counseling before they are turned over to their parents or guardians, the ordinance said.
For every subsequent offense, violators shall be required to attend two consecutive regular Barangay Council sessions for counseling. The barangay captain may later give a certificate of compliance to the apprehending officer for the violator.
The city police, the ordinance said, shall provide support to barangay captains in enforcing the ordinance.
Police stations and barangay halls shall serve as temporary holding centers for offenders who do not live in the city and are caught on weekends, holidays, or when CSWDO services are unavailable.
A minor can be exempted from penalties if:
- accompanied by his/her parent/guardian
- able to secure a certification from his/her parents/guardians/relatives proving that he/she only had to get out because of doing errands
- in a motor vehicle or other travel in no violation of the ordinance
- in an authorized employment activity or going to work or returning from home without any detours or stops
- on the sidewalk abutting his/her residence or the residence of his/her next door neighbor, unless the neighbor complains
- is in an emergency
- attending an official school, religious, recreational, educational, social, community, or other organized activity sponsored by the city, barangay, school, or other similar private civic/religious organization/group, which is recognized by the community that supervise the activity, or when the minor is going to or returning home from, without making any detour or stops; and
- he/she can present papers proving that he/she is a student and was dismissed from his/her classes late in the evening or that he/she is a working student./PN
