ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga Sibugay— The City Council has approved an ordinance imposing a curfew for local minors from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. as well as disallowing them from patronizing internet cafes during the same period.
Authored by Councilor Jerry Perez, chair of the committee on peace and order, the ordinance seeks to protect youngsters most of who “just gallivant at night on major street corners.”
Perez’s move was endorsed by Councilor Jimmy Villaflores, incumbent Sta. Catalina village chief, who suggested that the curfew should expand to all the city’s 98 barangays, claiming that many rural youngsters are now engaged in nefarious activities, including use of prohibited drugs, “as their parents can hardly discipline them.”
Perez, president of the city’s Association of Barangay Councils, said he included in his resolution the operations of local internet cafes where many elementary, secondary and tertiary school students and out-of-school youth stay after school or even during class hours.
He stressed that with the curfew hours for minors and entertainment outfits, the latter’s owners will have no more reason to open their establishments.