Bacolod City – A resolution requesting the Office of Mayor Albee Benitez, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), and all the barangays of the City of Bacolod to strictly implement City Ordinance No. 331, was approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod at a recent session.
C.O. No. 331 is known as an Ordinance providing special protection for children during nighttime by imposing curfew on minors from 10 p.m. to 4:00 the following morning.
The resolution authored by Councilor Simplicia Distrito said it has been observed that a lot of minors have been seen outside of their homes and are wandering around the city. Some of them have even been apprehended due to involvement in the commission of crimes such as theft, robbery, possession and use of prohibited drugs, and vandalism.
The strict implementation of the ordinance is one way to rescue and prevent underaged children from committing unlawful acts and exploitation, it said.
Section 13 of C.O. No. 331 provides for the creation of a task force to be composed of the City Mayor, the Department of Social Services and Development, chairman of the Committee on Laws or Social Services, Philippine National Police, Commission on Human Rights, SK Federation president, Liga ng mga Barangay, and PTA Federation, representatives from the educational, religious sectors, and non-government organizations, the resolution said.
The convening of the task force is necessary in order for the city to have a body that will ensure and monitor the implementation of the ordinance, it added. (Chrysee Semillano via The Visayan Daily Star)