Cagayan de Oro City—The City Social Welfare Department here has asked the Department of Interior and Local Government to order the city’s 80 barangays to implement the curfew ordinance for minors in their respective communities.
The city-wide curfew for children 15 years old and below is based on a 1994 city codified ordinance. The ordinance, however, is outdated and needs to be updated to comply with the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act or Republic Act 9344 and RA 10630.
The curfew hours are between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The exception is for the eve of the town fiesta, Charter Day and other local holidays for the City of Cagayan de Oro, Christmas, New Year, All Souls Day, All Saints Day, Good Friday, Holy Thursday up to the Resurrection day immediately following, or those who are going home from school classes, civic or religious gatherings or social occasions.
Teddy Sabuga-a Jr., the CSWD chief, said the lack of cooperation and implementation of barangay captains is one of the reasons why the curfew law has not been effective.
“We need their [barangays officials] help in rescuing these minors caught loitering in the streets during the curfew hours. We [CSWD]could not do it on our own,” Sabuga-a told reporters in a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Under the City Codified Ordinance Chapter 108 or the Curfew for Minors section 485, “No person below fifteen (15) years old shall roam, nightclubs, cocktail lounges, massage clinics, beer houses, discotheque joints or saloons, cabarets or liquor stores or stands, gambling places, plazas, parks, recreation halls, billiard halls, parlors, bowling alleys, theater lobbies, sidewalks, hotels, and all other similar establishments, after ten o’clock (10:00) post meridian, and before five o’clock (5:00) ante meridian.”
An ordinance filed at the city council, The Enhanced Parental Responsibility Ordinance (Epro) is still waiting for approval.
“The City Codified Ordinance is outdated, the Epro will answer the need for the curfew, the penalties that parents will face include community service, church attendance, reproductive health, school responsibility,” Sabuga-a said.
Sabuga-a added that they have removed the cash penalty because some cannot afford it, but said that parents are prevented from using poverty as an excuse for child neglect.
“Now that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has announced the nationwide curfew, we would like the DILG to put a teeth into the law and put the barangay officials to act and implement it,” Sabuga-a said.
“We all need to work together to make this a sustainable campaign and we need all the help we can get, after all, this is for the protection of our children,” Sabuga-a said.