AMID criticisms, the Pampanga Police said Oplan RODY (Rid the Streets of Drunkards and Youth) merely means the enforcement of local ordinances and is not a crackdown against “tambays” or loiterers.
Senior Superintendent Nicolas Salvador, Pampanga Provincial Police Office acting director, said Oplan RODY does not aim to instill fear but promote discipline among the citizenry, especially the youth.
Salvador explained during his courtesy visit to San Simon town Mayor Leonora Wong that the police do not merely round up any individual at night.
Rather, he said they apprehend only those who violate local ordinances such as the curfew ordinance and those that prohibit drinking alcohol and being shirtless in public, among others.
“Tambay has just become a term but the real essence of Oplan RODY is the implementation of barangay and municipal ordinances like curfew for minors, drinking in public places and being (half-)naked (in public),” Salvador said.
Despite the flak that police are receiving, Salvador said the campaign has helped solved crime and lawlessness especially at night in the province.
He cited the incident in Mabalacat City where an alleged robbery suspect and drug personality was arrested by police officers who were making rounds in the vicinity to apprehend possible violators.
Based on the police report, the suspect identified as Prince Tian Reyes, who was later pronounced dead after resisting arrest, was responsible for a series of burglaries in the city but remained at large until young men in the area, who were supposed to have been accosted for staying out late, helped track Reyes’ whereabouts.
“That is an example of the good side of the strict implementation of local ordinances. It only manifests the true goal of the police operation which is to get rid of undesirable individuals in the streets who are trying to victimize law abiding citizens,” Salvador said.