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[av_heading heading=’Dinagyang tribes seek exemption from curfew’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY CAROLYN JANE ABELLO
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January 17, 2018
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ILOILO City – Dinagyang Festival tribes are seeking exemption from the curfew ordinance for minors on Jan. 22 and 23 for their “blocking” in five performance areas downtown.
The curfew hours are between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. The tribes’ “blocking” is from 7:30 p.m. and could last until 5 a.m. of the next day, said Ramon Cua Locsin, chairperson of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI).
According to Councilor Plaridel Nava, the tribe “warriors” can actually avoid being arrested for violating the curfew without having to seek exemption from the ordinance.
As stated in Regulation Ordinance No. 2016-230 itself, minors may not be arrested during curfew hours if they are accompanied by their parents or guardians, said Nava.
Dinagyang tribes are school-based and their members are students covered by the curfew ordinance.
“Blocking” is important in the tribes’ overall presentation. In performance art, it refers to the positioning or arrangement of participants (where they should move for the proper dramatic effect, ensure sight lines for the audience, and work with the lighting/design of the scene, etc.) in the judging areas.
The ati-ati tribes competition is on Jan. 28.
The Dinagyang judging areas are the Freedom Grandstand, Iloilo provincial capitol, Delgado-Mabini streets, Quezon-Ledesma streets, and Maria Clara area.
Iloilo City Schools Division superintendent Clarissa Zamora actually asked parents or guardians to accompany their children rehearsing for the Dinagyang, said Councilor R Leone Gerochi.
Mayor Jose Espinosa III made it clear as early as November last year that no Dinagyang tribes would be allowed to hold rehearsals on the city’s streets during curfew hours.
“There will be no extension. Before the curfew ang tanan nga practice,” he said.
Espinosa met with officials of various schools and tribes, the Iloilo City Police Office and the city government’s Task Force on Morals and Values Formation in November and discussed the curfew vis-a-vis the Dinagyang tribes’ rehearsals.
The tribe managers wanted the rehearsals to last late into the night but the city police insisted that these must not go beyond 10 p.m. – the start of the curfew.
According to Espinosa, none could give him assurance that the youngsters would go straight home after the late night rehearsals thus he told them, “You practice before sang curfew kag kon curfew na, puli na tanan.”
Under Regulation Ordinance No. 2016-230 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./PN
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