Many children in the major cities of Philippines and their families are homeless and work in the streets day and night. AFP
MANILA — With only a month left before President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is sworn into office, local authorities are now scrambling to strengthen the implementation of their existing ordinances imposing curfew on minors.
In Mandaluyong, 58 teenagers aged 15 and below from different barangays were rounded up Monday night after they were caught by police roaming the streets past the city’s 10 p.m. curfew.
Chief Insp. Dominador Ignacio, Mandaluyong’s assistant chief of police for operations, said that the teenagers were temporarily brought to the police headquarters for their parents to fetch them. He added that it was also a way to remind the parents that they were in violation of Ordinance No. 538, or the Code of Parental Responsibility, which has been implemented since March 2014.
Under this ordinance, the city not only imposes a 10 p.m. curfew on minors but also holds parents responsible if ever their children violate the curfew or get involved in a crime.
Ignacio, who led the operation Monday night, said that most of the parents told them that they were surprised that their children were outside their homes, thinking they were already asleep. Other parents told authorities they only asked their children to run an errand in a nearby store.
For this time, the police official said that they let the parents off the hook by issuing only a stern warning. He, however, warned them they would be fined or made to render community service if their children were caught again on the streets during curfew hours.
Earlier, public information office chief Jimmy Isidro said that because of their Code, crimes in the city involving children have significantly dropped by nearly 75 percent.
Based on data from the women and children’s protection desk of the local police, Mandaluyong recorded 256 cases of crimes involving children, from simple mischief to street rioting and robbery, in 2013. When the ordinance was enforced, the number dropped to 77 in 2014 and 73 in 2015, Isidro said.
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to push for a nationwide curfew on minors to protect them from abuses, human trafficking and drug trafficking and curb child labor. SFM