ILOILO City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) apprehended 10,932 ordinance violators across Western Visayas in less than a month under its intensified Safer Cities Initiative, with regional police chief Brigadier General Josefino Ligan crediting the campaign for a 26.3-percent drop in focus crimes.
Data from PRO-6 showed that from April 6 to 30, 2026, authorities enforced thousands of local ordinance violations involving public drinking, smoking, curfew breaches, roaming shirtless, and late-night karaoke sessions, although most offenders were merely warned and released instead of fined.
Of the total violators, 7,479 or 68 percent received warnings, while only 3,431 or 31 percent were fined, reflecting what Ligan described as a preventive rather than punitive approach to enforcement.
“The results of each have significantly reduced the focus crimes natin. In fact, nasa 26.3% ang decrease. Tuloy-tuloy ang pag-implement natin ng local ordinances,” Ligan said.
The enforcement campaign revealed that most apprehensions involved minor public-order violations instead of major criminal offenses.
Under the Safer Cities Initiative data, the largest number of cases fell under “other violations” with 5,534 incidents or 51 percent of the total.
This was followed by drinking and smoking in public places with 3,331 violations or 30 percent, while curfew violations involving minors reached 1,314 cases or 12 percent.
Police also recorded 621 cases of individuals roaming shirtless and 134 cases involving karaoke or videoke sessions beyond permitted hours.
During a press briefing at Camp Martin Delgado, Ligan acknowledged that public drinking, half-naked roaming, and late-night videoke activities remain among the region’s most persistent ordinance violations.
“Most of the common violations are still drinking in public places and ‘yung half-naked. Meron rin tayo nahuhuli na nagka-karaoke even until 10 p.m.,” he said.
Ligan urged the media and the public to help strengthen awareness and compliance with local ordinances being enforced by authorities.
“Please also do your part as counterpart — disseminate and make the public aware that there are ordinances being implemented by our enforcers,” Ligan said.
Despite the thousands of violations recorded, Ligan maintained that Western Visayas remains relatively disciplined compared to other regions in the country.
“Compared to other places, iba ang kultura dito sa Western Visayas. Napakabait ng mga tao. Sa community, hindi crowded, bawat isa kilala pa,” he said.
He noted that some regions record as many as 500 to 600 ordinance violations daily, significantly higher than figures monitored in Western Visayas.
“So on that data alone, it speaks of the discipline of the people here. Mas disiplinado ang mga tao sa Western Visayas,” Ligan said.
The PRO-6 chief said the campaign would continue as part of the region’s preventive policing strategy aimed at sustaining peace and order while encouraging stronger community cooperation./PN