BARMM solon seeks curfew on minors

DAVAO CITY—A Bangsamoro member of Parliament has proposed a legislation seeking to curtail the movement of minors during the wee hours of the night and prevent them from the danger of abuse and getting forced to do criminal activities.

Baintan Adil-ampatuan, an engineer by profession, also filed a legislative measure at the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) requiring mandatory social preparation of development projects.

Ampatuan filed BTA Bill 94, which seeks to promote the safety and welfare of Bangsamoro minors by establishing general guidelines for curfew implementation in the region.

“It is important to limit minors’ movement, particularly at night, in order to safeguard them from harmful situations like violence, exploitation, abuse, cruelty, and neglect,” he said in the introduction of the bill. He said minors would be subject to a curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. to prevent them “from loitering, wandering, staying, meandering, or being in public locations during curfew hours.”

It also prohibits parents and guardians from allowing their children to be on the streets during designated curfew hours, he added.

The bill said minors are only permitted to go out beyond curfew hours if: they are accompanied by or have written authorization from their parents, guardians, or the proper authorities to run errands; they are attending graduation ceremonies, religious activities, and extracurricular school activities; they are in emergency situations such as conflagrations, earthquakes, hospitalization, road accidents, law enforcement encounters, and other similar incidents; they are going or returning home from work; they are in any mode of transportation accompanied by an adult; and they can present papers certifying that they are working students.