GATED VILLAGES ‘NOT EXEMPTED’

In Mandaue City, a police official says the force is looking forward to implementing a new ordinance that prohibits sales of liquor after midnight, as well as drinking liquor in public spaces, including convenience stores

Posh subdivisions and gated communities are not exempted from the implementation of Oplan Tambay, the regional director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 said.

Meanwhile, in Mandaue City, the police look forward to enforcing a new ordinance that prohibits convenience stores and gasoline stations from selling liquor after midnight.

The Philippine National Police emphasized they will go after violators of ordinances and not just loiterers, loafers or “tambay”.

Two weeks ago, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the po- lice to send loiterers home and, if they refuse, to bring them to Malacañan because they are “potential trouble for the public.”

Loitering, however, has no longer been a criminal offense since Congress amended the Revised Penal Code in 2012, which is why the police have had to shift their focus to local ordinances against drunkenness, smoking in public, curfew violations, and other offenses.

‘Ask the guards’

PRO 7 Director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas said yesterday that he also gave directives to the police to include subdivisions in Oplan Tambay.

“Oo naman. Actually, ang atong mga police ug atong mga patrol, usa sa mga guidance is mangadto’g subdivision og mangutana kay naa may mga established guards to. Kung naa bay mga problema nga ingon ana and karamihan naa sila’y guards (Police were told to ask the subdivision guards if there were any problems in the neighborhood. Most of them have guards),” Sinas said.

The Central Visayas police chief assured that they are not anti-poor, which is how some critics have described Oplan Tambay.

As to speculations the campaign was a prelude to Martial Law, the regional director dismissed the reports. “Let them do their conspiracy theory. I will not comment further,” he said.

Sinas also assured that the police would only give a stern warning to people who were caught loitering without violating any city ordinance.

“This is advantageous for us so that our men can engage them and get to know them. Pag naay makita nga nakatambay ug naglingkod-lingkod didto sa ngitngit nga lugar, pangutan-on kung nag-unsa man mo ug nganong naa mo nganha. Pangayuan og ID kung alanganin. Pag wala, paulion (Police will ask those who are loitering in the dark what they are doing there. They may ask for ID cards and if there’s none, they can ask those people to go home),” he said.

The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has warned they will start arresting violators of ordinances.

In Mandaue, Oplan Tambay Sita will focus on enforcing the ban on drinking by the roadside and dispatching, and will send home loitering minors.

Not just convenience

Chief Insp. Mercy Villaro, Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) spokesperon, said that public drunkenness has often caused trouble and that regulating the sale of liquor can help the police maintain order.

“Kon tambayan na para mag-inom, dili na na convenience store (When people stay there to drink, that’s no longer just a convenience store),” she said in a phone interview.

In the past six days, personnel of the MCPO headquarters and six police stations arrested 17 persons for various offenses and warned 170 loiterers. Police rescued 48 minors.

From January to May this year, police in Mandaue have “rescued” 582 minors found roaming around during curfew hours. They also caught 61 adults for being drunk in public.

As to the ordinance, Councilor Nilo Seno had proposed An Act Regulating the Sale and Consumption of Intoxicating Liquor in the City of Mandaue. It was approved on first reading during the City Council’s regular session last Jan. 31.

Keep bottles sealed

The proposed ordinance was then approved on final reading after a public hearing last March 6. Mayor Luigi Quisumbing has to sign it before it can be implemented, a source from the Mandaue City Government said.

According to the ordinance, no establishment will be allowed to sell and serve liquor within Mandaue without getting a License to Sell Liquor and a License to Serve Liquor from the Business Permit and Licensing Office.

A store or establishment that has secured a license to sell will be required to make sure that the “seal of the liquor must not be broken within the premises of the store and that it is prohibited for any person to consume liquor in any public space.”