Manila Council mulls curfew for minors

The proposal to impose a curfew on minors in Manila continues to gain ground after four committees of the City Council affirmed the need for its imposition from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

In their respective reports, four City Council committees – the Committee on Youth and Sports Development; Committee on Laws, Committee on Fire, Police, Peace and Order, Public Safety and Committee on Justice and Human Rights – interposed no objections to the proposed ordinance authored by Sixth District Councilor Julio Logarta Jr.

Logarta’s ordinance sought to impose "curfew hours" on persons 18 years and below on the streets of Manila.

According to the Committee on Youth and Sports Development, Logarta’s ordinance would be a great help in instilling discipline, sense of propriety and moral responsibility in the youth.

Aside from the fact that minors would be able to have enough sleep and rest needed to enhance their growth, the committee also said curfew would also protect minors from lawless elements preying on them during the wee hours. Curfew would also prevent minors from engaging in unlawful acts like drinking intoxicating liquor and gambling.

For Committee on Justice and Human Rights, the "proposal comes at a time when there is strong public clamor for government to stop drug abuse in society."

"It is a fact that the drug problem has reached dangerous proportions that even the lowly man on the street has become helpless when he comes across children sniffing rugby," the committee reports read.

The Committee on Laws, on the other hand, recommended a stricter penalty for violators of the ordinance.