EDITORIAL - Nothing to worry about crackdown on tambays

More than 7,000 tambays and other vagrants have been arrested within the first seven days of the implementation of the Oplan RODY or the Rid the Streets of Drunkards and Youths drive around Metro Manila.

In Cebu, the crackdown on tambays will soon start rolling as local authorities are now preparing guidelines to be followed by the police and other concerned agencies. The campaign aims to discourage men roaming around without shirts and drinking in public.

The Cebu City Police Office, for its part, wanted to focus the Oplan Tambay on barangays where there are high crime rates. CCPO Director Joel Doria ordered his men to set their sights on areas where illegal drugs and petty crime proliferate.

However, there has been too much ado about the anti-tambay drive of the government. Many, especially those in the opposition, believe the move will eventually lead to the declaration of martial law across the country.

Besides, they contend that there has never any law banning loitering following the decriminalization of vagrancy. In 2012, then President Benigno Aquino III signed into law a measure amending Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code, which categorized vagrancy as a crime.

It is clear that the purpose of the anti-tambay campaign is to rid the streets of criminals. Therefore, there’s really nothing to worry about it since its implementation is part of the plan that aims for a safer and secure locality.

Yes, crimes proliferate even in broad daylight because there are those who opt to do illegal things. Of course, criminals go out and loiter around in order to pull off their trade, whether to snatch, rob, rape, or peddle illegal drugs.

It would be effective if the government has all the means to help all those tambays find decent livelihood. That is because as long as there are those who loiter around doing nothing, the urge to commit crime is sometimes irresistible.