Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas president League Edmund Abesamis reminded police officers, who are tasked to arrest ‘loiterers’ per President Rodrigo Duterte’s order, should first secure an arrest warrant or present a valid and legal reason before they can arrest or detain idlers.
In a television interview, Abesamis said that policemen should also determine if a crime had been committed before any arrests could be made.
“Kung arestuhin natin, warrantless arrest po yan. Para maging valid yung warrantless arrest, dapat lumitaw that a crime is being committed in your presence,” Abesamis said.
Abesamis added that since vagrancy has been decriminalized, some policemen may use the ordinances as excuses to detain ‘loiterers.’
“Yung pagiging tambay ay hindi naman kriminal. Pero yung tambay nahuhuli sa kadahilanan daw na merong nilabas na ordinansa,” he said.
“Hindi ko po alam kung talagang hinuli dahil sa paglabas ng ordinansa or nagiging paraan iyun para mahuli yung tambay,” Abesamis added.
He also said that only persons who are subject of a warrant of arrest may be detained by the police.
Barangay officials must also do their part and be wary of their neighborhood of ‘tambays’ who have the potential to create trouble.
“Yan naman po ay dapat maging sensitibo ang mga barangay official sa mga ganyang bagay di dahil para gumanda lang ang kanilang papel dahil katungkulan din naman nila,” Abesamis said.
Since he made the declaration against ‘tambays’ on June 13, the president insisted that no arrest has been made even as Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said that no one has complained of any rights violation against the arresting officers.
Albayalde also recently said that the recent arrest of “tambays” is due to violations of ordinances, and not because they were mere bystanders.
Albayalde said the loiterers were detained because of violations of the ordinances in anti-smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages in public places, and going shirtless in public.
In a related development, the Department of Interior and Local Government said it would issue an order directing all barangays nationwide to place in their custody those apprehended for loitering in the streets, according to the Public Attorney’s Office.
PAO chief Persida Acosta, said that Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño is convinced that those arrested by the police must be turned over to the barangay officials, go through counseling and be provided with work or livelihood program, instead of keeping them under detention at the police precincts.
“A while ago this lunch, I have talked to him [Diño] and discussed the issue. He told me he is willing to issue a directive to the barangay officials to look after the plight of these ‘tambays.’ They need to be counseled,” she said.
“As PAO chief, I am advising the Philippine National Police not to bring these bystanders to police precincts. Our facilities are over-congested because of the government’s extensive war on drugs. There are barangay jails,” she said.
She said that she fears for the lives of those apprehended for loitering at night, saying they can die inside the detention cells because of over-congestion and the unbearable conditions, or be bullied and harmed by drug suspects and other hardened criminals.
“Their only case is anti-loitering,” she said.
She, however, said that she does not see any human rights violation in the arrest of loiterers “if there is an ordinance that tells so.”
Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson has said that authorities, including the PNP, can best address the issue of “tambays” (loiterers) at the local level, without having to elevate it to the national level.
“If they say, being ‘tambay’ violates local ordinances, keep it local. The Chief, PNP doing all the explaining and justifying instead of the concerned local chiefs of police only adds up to the suspicion and criticisms,” said Lacson, who headed the Philippine National Police from 1999 to 200.
He added it would be better to leave it to local chiefs of police who can implement local ordinances under the provisions of the PNP Law. He also nidd that the arrests of other loiterers were based on local ordinances.
Lacson also cited the highly successful anti-criminality experience of Davao City under then-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, which gained widespread and almost unanimous public support from local residents.
“The highly successful Davao City anti-criminality experience under then-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte gained widespread, almost unanimous public support from Davaoeños, and as recent history tells us, even catapulted him to where he is now,” he said.
A similar success story involves Marikina City, where the administration of then-Mayor Bayani Fernando managed to address the issue as part of its anti-criminality campaign.
The experiences in Davao and Marikina Cities could be a “good template” for the PNP to replicate, Lacson pointed out.
Senator JV Ejercito, meanwhile, urged the PNP to come up with guidelines before enforcing its “anti-tambay” campaign.
“Perhaps the PNP should clarify the guidelines. They should have guidelines in the first place. Because when the President gave the order, they immediately implemented it without informing the public about the guidelines; so, what is prohibited and what is not? If you are an ordinary citizen, an ordinary Juan dela Cruz, you don’t now also what is accepted or not,” he said.
He recommended that the PNP should first make clarifications and come up with guidelines before the enforcement.
“After the President’s order, they immediately enforced it) without even informing the public of the guidelines,” he sakd.
Senator Grace Poe earlier made the call to the police enforcers.
“We recognize the objectives of the ‘anti-tambay operations,’ however, implementing it requires clear guidelines and safeguards against violation of human rights,” Poe said.
She said the PNP should “orient its enforcers on the ground on how to handle the so-called loiterers, mindful of their rights and exercising the highest degree of restraint that authorities should observe.”
“We want this to succeed so that our streets would be ridden of criminals and unscrupulous elements without instilling fear and misery."
Earlier reports indicated the PNP cracked down on “tambays” following President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive against people loitering in the streets even at night.
So far, police data showed that enforcers have arrested 664 violators of local ordinances against ”tambays” or loiterers in separate operations in various parts of Metro Manila.
Of the number, 566 violators were from the southern cities of the National Capital Region (NCR) and 98 from Manila.
In his report to National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) head Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, Southern Police District director Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario said 566 bystanders were apprehended in Muntinlupa, Makati, and Parañaque during the past 24 hours starting 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Albayalde met with Eleazar Thursday morning to assess the situation.
As a result of sustained operations to enforce local ordinances against vagrants, Muntinlupa City Police personnel said they apprehended 130 bystanders, 66 of whom were curfew violators, 40 were half-naked in public, 14 were caught smoking in non-smoking areas, and 10 were drinking in public.
On the other hand, the Parañaque City Police reported 114 apprehensions, 48 of whom were violators of the curfew for minors, 47 were drinking in public places, 15 were half-naked in public, and four were smoking in public.
In Makati City, 131 violators were reported for the same period, 75 of whom for violating the local curfew on minors, 39 for drinking in public, 11 for being half-naked in public, and six for public smoking.
Meanwhile, 37 persons were apprehended in Pasay, 95 in Las Piñas, 57 in Taguig, and two in Pateros.
Aside from the 98 persons nabbed for violation of city ordinances, the Manila Police District’s (MPD) implementation of its “Tambay sa Kalye” operations in the past 24 hours also resulted in the arrest of 32 suspects in 13 anti-drug operations.
Confiscated from the operations were 45 sachets of suspected “shabu” during the period.
Two firearms, a .38 caliber revolver without a serial number loaded with three live ammunition, and one Black Widow .22 caliber Magnum loaded with one live ammunition, and three fired cartridge cases were also recovered during the police operations.
The Manila Police also conducted three anti-illegal gambling operations that resulted in the arrest of 13 suspects during the same period.
In one of the operations, elements of the Sta. Cruz Police nabbed three suspects for violation of Presidential Decree 1602 (illegal gambling) and Republic Act No. 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002).
Seized pieces of evidence from the suspects were three pieces of small heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets of “shabu” and three one-peso coins used as flippers.
Meanwhile, the Quezon City Press District on Thursday belied the “false” information on the reported deaths of some detainees its custody.
Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel denied allegations of police brutality which allegedly caused the death of Genesis Argoncillo while in the custodial facility of Station 4 in Novaliches.
He said records showed that Argoncillo was arrested for alarm and scandal on June 15.
On June 19, he complained of difficulty in breathing and was rushed to the nearby Novaliches District Hospital where he was pronounced dead by Dr. Jethiel Fabon at 5:15 a.m.
Fabon certified that there were no signs of external injuries.
For the past several days, five detained persons, including Argoncillo, initially complained of difficulty in breathing and were brought to the hospital where they died.
Esquivel, however, admitted that years ago, all custodial facilities of QCPD are heavily congested.
In Station 4 alone, there are 138 persons under its custody, while the facility is good only for six detainees only, based on international standards (4.7 square meters per person).
Those who died inside Station were Alex Andaman, who was arrested on June 2 for illegal gambling and passed on June 18; Paulo Lopez, who was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest for estafa and died on June 4; Niño Cruz, who was arrested by virtue of warrants of arrest for physical injury and unjust vexation on May 19 and died on June 1, and Jeffrey Norio, arrested on May 16 for illegal gambling and died on May 29. With PNA