BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Many couples tend to become more intimate and romantic with each other on Valentine’s Day. In bustling cities like Iloilo City, motels are the common places where they will likely stay after celebrating this special occasion.
But while Valentine’s Day can be a time for romance and intimacy, the Iloilo City Government cautioned those who might engage in inappropriate behavior, commonly known as a “hanky panky,” inside the motels with minors.
Nestor Canong, head of Iloilo City’s Task Force on Moral Values Formation, reiterated the existence of City Ordinance No. 2015-447, which specifically prohibits establishments from accepting minors to shield youngsters from sexual predators.
Canong said the taskforce enforcement team has been conducting random inspections and monitoring of several KTV bars, disco pubs, dance halls, nightclubs, and entertainment houses in the Jaro and Mandurriao districts.
He said they also visited about 10 garages and offices of taxi operators and discussed with them the city’s existing ordinances for the protection of minors.
Canong said they also sought the cooperation of the taxi drivers to remain vigilant or refuse to convey minor passengers who want to go to prohibited places such as motels, not just during Valentine’s Day.
“We paid a courtesy visit to the taxi garage operators in the city and reminded them of the ordinances to ensure the safety and well-being of our youth who might be victimized by unscrupulous individuals,” Canong told Panay News.
The taskforce also met with the owners and staff of various inns and motels in the Arevalo district and discussed with them the programs of the taskforce. Canong said the motel owners and staff expressed their commitment to comply with the existing ordinance.
The city ordinance also aims to protect minors from harm, prevent exploitation, and ensure their safety and well-being.
Canong said motel owners and operators in the city have been oriented towards these laws to avoid legal repercussions and ensure compliance.
Under the ordinance, individuals under the age of 18 are not permitted to stay in motels without adult supervision. The rule also aims to prevent minors from being exposed to potentially dangerous or inappropriate situations, such as exploitation, trafficking, or substance abuse.
Violators of the ordinance may be fined P5,000, imprisonment of one year, and possible cancellation of business permits.
Approved in November 2015, the ordinance specified suspicious circumstances that should be a cause for alarm and must be prohibited.
These include any person who, not being a relative of a minor, is spending time alone with the said minor inside a room or cubicle of a house, an inn, hotel, motel, pension house, apartelle, or other similar establishments, vessels, vehicles or any hidden or secluded area under circumstances which would lead a reasonable person to believe that the child is about to be exploited in prostitution and other sexual abuse.
It is also prohibited for any person who keeps or has in his company a minor below 18 years old or who is 10 years or more his junior and is not a family member, in any lodging houses, hotels, motels, beer joints, discotheques, cabarets, pension houses, saunas or massage parlors, beach resorts or similar places
Under the ordinance, motels and similar establishments are required to post the notice “No Entry/Admittance of Minors” in their entrances and/or any conspicuous places on their premises./PN
