JV: Duterte’s order vs ‘tambays’ is a case-to-case basis

Sen. JV Ejercito. Photo from the office of Sen. JV Ejercito

Sen. JV Ejercito believes that President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to be strict with “tambays” (loiterers) would be a case-to-case basis.

Ejercito on Saturday said he could not see anything wrong in being a loiterer as long as it would not cause a problem in the community.

“Siguro case to case ang gawin diyan. Kung yung mga tambay ay medyo ay may mga bisyo, may mga teenager diyan na talagang mga bata palang nanggugulo na, yun talaga dapat na ipagbawal yun,” Ejercito said in an interview with DWIZ.

“Kapag yung tumatambay na nakikita niyo naman na nag-uusap, hindi naman nanggugulo, palagay ko hindi naman dapat maging problema iyon,” he added.

Support mechanism

According to Ejercito, being a loiterer was one of the support mechanisms of Filipinos in handling stress.

He also noted that talking to peers during free time and having a drink with them make the suicide rate in the country much lower compared to other countries.

“Kahit siguro mahirap ang ating bansa, happy people tayo kasi nakakapag release (ng stress). Kahit walang pera yan, basta may inuman yan, nakakapag release yan ng stress,” Ejercito said.

“Parte yan ng support mechanism kung bakit considered as happy people tayo kasi nga may support mechanism sa kaibigan at pamilya,” he added.

‘Potential trouble’

The President on Wednesday directed local authorities to be strict with tambays who loiter the streets even at night for being a “potential trouble to the public.”

Duterte told the police to bring to Malacañang anyone who would not abide by the police and remain loitering at night.

“‘Yung kalsada, ‘yung highways are– we built it for the law-abiding citizens. Ang mga criminal dapat diyan, ang mga durugista, they are not supposed to be there. So my directive is ‘pag mag-istambay-istambay diyan sa, sabihin niyo, ‘Umuwi kayo. Kay ‘pag hindi kayo umuwi ihatid ko kayo doon sa opisina ni ano — Pasig,’” Duterte said in a speech. /jpv

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