BAGUIO City Social Welfare and Development Office head Betty Fangasan on Tuesday said the curfew ordinance for minors is continuously being implemented since it was approved in 2009.
An average of 20 minors are being referred to the CSWDO every month including repetitive offenders, Fangasan said.
Fangasan explained minors apprehended by personnel of the Baguio City Police Office are brought to the CSWDO for interview and processing.
Such processing would involve parents or legal guardians of the minors, which may take some 24 to 48 hours.
After the proceeding, the minor would be allowed to go home with the parents after signing a promissory note not to violate the curfew ordinance again.
In cases of repeating offenders, Fangasan said they try to find out why the minor prefers to stay out late at night than be at home.
Fangasan added the CSWDO does not stop after the minor was sent home, a barangay social worker would take over and monitor the household where the minor belongs.
Earlier, the city council approved a resolution penned by Baguio City Councilor Elaine Sembrano to strictly implement City Ordinance No. 50 series of 2009 amending City Ordinance No. 271 s 1957, “An Ordinance Setting Curfew Hours for Minors to Roam or Play on Streets, Roads, Plazas, Parks or Other Public Places of Establishments in the City and Providing for Other Purposes.”
The ordinance prohibit minors, below 16 years old from roaming or playing in public places or establishments between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. the next day.
This aims to curb acts of delinquency, teenage gang incidents and other infractions of the law committed during nocturnal hours. (PNA)