Palace: Anti-‘tambay’ drive to deter crimes

alacañang defended President Duterte’s campaign against ‘tambays’ or street idlers / bystanders anew as it explained that the Chief Executive only wants to prevent crimes by enhancing police visibility and not criminalizing vagrancy.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque reiterated that Duterte’s anti-‘tambay’ directive is aimed at preventing crimes from happening.

“We are not criminalizing vagrancy po. We are implementing the laws and ordinances, and it is a form of higher police visibility intended to act as deterrent towards the commission of crimes,” he said Thursday.

Loitering was a criminal offense under Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code until President Benigno C. Aquino III signed a law in 2012 decriminalizing vagrancy amid concerns that the Revised Penal Code has been used to justify arbitrary arrests against the poor.

Roque also said that any probe on Duterte’s anti‘tambay’ directive by the Congress, as well as challenges before the Supreme Court, are welcome.

“Conducting an investigation is the mandate of both Houses of the Congress. Especially if they will create a law that would help the President with the kind of implementation he wants,” Roque said in the vernacular.

“So we welcome the Congressional investigations, and we also welcome challenges before the Supreme Court, the President has said so,” he added.

In a speech last week, Duterte acknowledged that loitering is not a crime. He, however, said that as the nation’s father, he can arrest loiterers if he thinks people need protection, especially women who can become victims of sexual abuse by loiterers.