Monday, July 21, 2008
Lapu-Lapu City Council shelves draft ordinance pending inputs from agencies
MEMBERS of the Lapu-Lapu City Council have failed to agree on a proposed curfew ordinance for minors, shelving it until they receive inputs from concerned offices.
They asked the police, city legal office, Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), and the Local Council for Protection of Children for help.
“We are worried about what effect it could bring to our tourism (sector) because we cannot exempt the foreigners. True that it is our burden to guarantee the safety of our youth, but we must have an implementable ordinance, not (just a) paper ordinance,” Vice Mayor Mario Amores said.
The measure introduced by City Councilor Efren Herrera and ex-officio member Reymar Dico, Sangguniang Kabataan chairman, prohibits minors from straying outside their homes from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., to protect them from roaming criminals.
Lapu-Lapu City Police Office records showed that Crips, Bloods and Death Threat are the active youth gangs in the city that have continuously recruited out-of-school youths and students in public schools.
After a September 2006 fracas that killed a 16-year-old Pajo National High School student, who was stabbed in the chest, clashes between the three gangs occurred occasionally.
But Amores said limiting the freedom of the youth is not advisable, particularly with the influx of modern gadgets they like to explore.
He also said the safety of the entire community, not only of the youth, is the police’s responsibility.
Imposing a curfew, Amores said, would only result to abuses and human rights violations as what was experienced during Martial Law.
“We will review the possibility once we get the inputs we have sought; but for me lisod na… (we should be wary). We do not want to go back to that dark period of our history,” he said. (AIV)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 21, 2008 issue)
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