The short of it is this: The Caloocan City Government 2007 Dress Code in Public Places Ordinance only requires residents, especially in government offices, to be “decently attired” but they are not prohibited from wearing shorts.
This was the clarification by Mayor Oscar Malapitan who said the measure was not new as it was signed in 2007 and was authored by a former city councilor and passed by the previous administration. This was not approved during Malapitan’s time.
Malapitan had ordered the city councilors to discuss and review the ordinance.
“For me, I really want the ordinance to be repealed as I stand for equal rights to freedom and I believe that all women should be respected no matter what they wear,” Malapitan said.
Meanwhile, on the issue of sexual harassment on women, the city mayor encouraged victims to stand up for themselves and report to the police.
With the summer heat reaching sometimes 40 degrees Celsius, fashion observers said people tend to wear light clothes, with women preferring to wear shorts while men would wear just undershirts, in isolated cases sometimes going shirtless.
For coconut vendor Willie Gaspar, he said it would be better for men to wear shirts instead of sando or undershirt because it looked more decent.
Student Jessa Avila is also in favor of the ordinance, adding it was a preventive measure against sexual harassment or rape. She also wants fair treatment of all genders under the ordinance.
Violators will be reprimanded for the first offense but they will have to pay a fine if they are already under second (P500) and third offense (P1,000).
According to barangay 120 chairman Antonio Duran, even though the ordinance had been in existence since 2007, they still need to remind residents about it.