ILOILO City – The Philippine National Police (PNP) should observe the rule of law in enforcing the anti-tambay campaign, according to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).
Policemen should not arrest tambays if there were no grounds for doing so, said IBP national president Atty. Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo yesterday.
A tambay may only be arrested if he had committed a crime or violated an ordinance or provisions in the Revised Penal Code, he stressed.
Vagrancy was no longer a criminal offense, added Fajardo who made a courtesy visit to Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. at the Iloilo provincial capitol yesterday.
Baseless tambay arrests, according to Fajardo, would also unnecessarily congest jails.
He also said violators of ordinances were usually slapped with monetary fines only, not detention.
The more prudent thing for policemen to do is warn tambays against staying out late at night and encourage people to go home.
“If they think ang pagtambay ay hindi maganda, just warn people and let them go home,” said Fajardo. “Kon medyo matig-a ang iya ulo, siguro that’s the time for them to file charges.”
Malacañang defended the government’s campaign against tambay, saying it was part of crime prevention to clean the streets of criminals.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the campaign is also in line with the role of President Rodrigo Duterte as chief implementor of the law of the land “to increase police visibility and to enforce strictly existing ordinances.”
“We need to bring the message in the community that our police are roaming around so that those criminals will stop from doing crimes,” he said.
He said other countries in Asia have no half-naked individuals drinking, smoking and loitering on the streets.
“For me, it’s also about time we promote this kind of a discipline without sanctioning human rights violations,” Roque said.
Roque said if there is any violation, the victims can file charges against law enforcers.
He disputed reports that 7,000 people were arrested everyday as a result of the anti-tambay drive.
“We don’t have the space for that, given that we have overcrowding jail facilities. I think it’s physically impossible for one day to accommodate 7,000,” Roque said./PN