On Oplan Rody

If the Pampanga Provincial Police Office is to be asked on Oplan Rody (Rid the Streets of Drunkards and Youth) that is now being implemented in the province, the same means the mere implementation of local ordinances and is not a crackdown of loiterers or “tambays”.

Despite the disparagements on the nationwide “disciplining” of tambays in the country especially the youth, the said police office said that it is implementing ordinances aimed at promoting discipline especially among the youth.

So what’s wrong with the activity when it is aimed at helping promote peace and order especially during night time? For some, they say it is a party of the government’s militarization of the streets while for some it means a prelude to a much stricter implementation of an iron fist rule such as that during the martial law period.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) meanwhile said that it is the mere implementation of local ordinances that sets curfew hours, prohibiting alcohol drinking and being shirtless in public. If only the implementation of the said local laws that is to be strictly enforced, it shall indeed immensely contribute to the maintenance of peace and order in communities.

Curfews for example are great deterrents to crimes considering that bad elements doing their crimes at night or during the wee hours of the early morning shall be encouraged to stay inside homes and with their families. Questionable are their intentions once they shall be caught staying on streets late at night and those who do, have to explain why they are loitering in the first place in a community.

For those who drink in public, it is high time for them to rather drink inside homes or in establishments that provide spaces for drinking. Many drinkers are unruly when drunk. They become nuisances when they drink in public and later on bully or harass some people. Worse, they sometimes end up as criminals because of their drunkenness.

Some people, mostly men, are fond of getting half-naked or shirtless in streets. This can be observed usually during summer or during hot and humid days and nights. While there are men with bodies to behold, it’s quite improper and unethical to go shirtless in streets and other public pl aces.

Although some men do feel comfortable to go shirtless in streets, it’s unsightly for others to see them with their bulging stomachs. It’s in fact impolite to go half-naked in public.

The PNP, in the performance of their duty to promote peace and order in every communities is doing its job in enforcing local laws enacted specifically in particular localities. It’s hard to imagine to see our streets filled with tambays, shirtless men and dr unks.

The PNP’s effort to enforce ordinances meanwhile do not simply end in futility as the strict implementation of such has netted some criminal elements who are under the authorities watch. It simply proves that what our policemen are doing are yielding results.

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