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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Thursday, October 19, 2017
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ILOILO City – Masked men with airsoft guns shot minors and others of legal age loitering late night on Tuesday in the districts of Jaro, Arevalo and Mandurriao.
One of those hit with airsoft pellets, 21-year-old Soliman Hermanos of Washington Street, Barangay Benedicto, Jaro, complained to the police that nine gun pellets hit his back and these hurt.
Airsoft pellets are spherical projectiles used as bullets in airsoft guns which are replica weapons. Though typically made of plastic, some airsoft pellets are made of metal and ceramic. They may leave red skin marks or “welts” on their targets.
The men were on a motorcycle; one was driving it while the other had the airsoft gun, according to Hermano.
It was around midnight when he was attacked. He was sitting by the roadside with friends some of whom were teens. The motorcycle-riding men indiscriminately sprayed them with airsoft pellets.
According to the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO), there were incidents in other districts similar to what happened to Hermano and friends in Jaro. Some minors claimed they were not deliberately violating the curfew ordinance but practicing for the January 2018 Dinagyang Festival.
“These incidents are now under investigation,” said Senior Inspector Shella Mae Sangrines, city police spokesperson.
She found it curious that these airsoft gunmen struck on the night that the ICPO also had an operation in six districts against youngsters violating the curfew ordinance for minors.
Just this August, a vigilante group was reported to have attacked with whips youth gangs and those violating the curfew.
The ICPO, however, said the information it got on this group was “raw” such as its use of latigo (whip) to discipline erring youngsters.
Wayward teens are becoming a growing problem for the city police. A strict implementation of the curfew for minors may avert gang wars, said Sangrines.
Under Regulation Ordinance No. 2016- 230, which amended Regulation Ordinance No. 2011-676, minors (those below 18 years old) are prohibited from loitering beyond 10 p.m. in restaurants, nightclubs, motels, dancehalls, amusement places such as Internet cafes, video arcades, karaoke bars, billiard halls, beach resorts and other similar establishments.
Also under the curfew ordinance, minors are prohibited from selling or vending whatever items (including food and beverages) even with their parents or guardians around, and its shall be unlawful for business establishments to admit minors within their premises during curfew hours.
Still, said Sangrines, “we don’t tolerate any group harming minors” even in the name of public safety and order.
Information reached the ICPO that the “latigo group” members, when hunting for juvenile delinquents, were roaming the city streets on motorcycles and wearing black jackets.
The city ordinance imposing curfew for minors has not been properly enforced for years. It is principally for unescorted minors and aims to minimize incidents of crime involving juveniles.
The ICPO counted 24 youth gangs often seen in the City Proper.
The city government’s Task Force on Morals and Values Formation admitted having a hard time enforcing the ordinance imposing curfew on minors./PN
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