Group alarmed by
Oplan RODY expansion in provinces
By Samahan ng Progresibong
Kabataan (SPARK)
June 18, 2016
QUEZON CITY – A youth
group expressed alarm after more local government units and their
respective police commands have begun implementing or are planning to
duplicate Oplan RODY or Rid the Streets of Drunkards and Youth in an
effort to curb vices and petty crime.
The Samahan ng Progresibong
Kabataan or SPARK has asked city officials to suspend the
implementation of their ordinances and make it in tune with the recent
societal changes brought about by programs of the national government
such as the K-12 program of the Department of Education as well as the
student employment program of the labor department which commenced
only in 2009.
Oplan Rody is reportedly to
be in full swing in the cities of Quezon City, Las Piñas, Manila,
Pasay, Caloocan, Malabon, Mandaluyong and Makati.
Recently, the cities of
Bacoor in Cavite and Lipa in Batangas have as well “activated” their
long-standing ordinances to prohibit minors outside their homes from
10pm to 4am. Police officials in Mandaue City in Cebu province also
intends to implement its curfew ordinance which was passed in 1999.
The Mayor of Baguio City has also publicly expressed his support for
Oplan Rody.
“On one side, we admit that
local government units have the responsibility to curb petty crime and
vice but then again it counteracts other programs that the national
government has implemented only recently,” said Joanne Lim, member of
the National Secretariat of SPARK.
The Diliman-based activist
lamented that the city mayors and police have mindlessly and
indiscriminately enforced their “Jurassic” ordinances in an effort to
get into the good side of the next administration without taking into
account the day-to-day struggles of commuting and working students.
“If Oplan Rody’s
implementation in Metro Manila systematically and indiscriminately
victimized students in the past weeks, how much more if implemented as
well in the cities and municipalities around Metro Manila where they
are enrolled and employed,” Lim reasoned.
“If only students do not
suffer from horrendous traffic jams, flooded streets in the rainy
season and inadequate public transport systems on a daily basis then
it can be implemented as early as 10pm but that is not the case. The
immense volume of people travelling to and from Cavite, Rizal and
Laguna, many of them students will require longer travelling hours”.
“Senior High students as
well as working students will need more latitude and consideration
from authorities,” she said.
Lim added that, “to
implement the curfew in the manner which is done as seen on television
is not only traumatic but also indiscriminate. Such draconian measures
and methods cannot be implemented without violation of human rights
because all minors found past 10pm, are under the presumption of
criminal activity not unless proven to be enrolled or came from their
graveyard shift at work”.