Distrito: Police should ‘remind’ people not to loiter

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

In response to the order from President Rodrigo Duterte for police to apprehend loiterers, or “istambay,” as part of a campaign seeking to reduce street crime, Bacolod City Councilor Caesar Distrito yesterday said there is no law prohibiting people from loitering at night.

He directed his message to the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), noting, police are not permitted to “just arrest anyone.”

The city official recommended law enforcement to “just remind our people not to loiter or stay outside.”

In a recent interview with BCPO director, Police Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, he said they are cautious when it comes to handling loiterers and assured the public their rights will not be violated.

Ebreo said they are enforcing the city’s local ordinances, such as the curfew and anti-smoking law, but when it comes to other cases, such as those who are not wearing shirts, Ebreo said police are only allowed to call them out but they cannot make an arrest.

The president recently clarified his order, noting the intention was not to arrest loiterers but to frisk them and to take unattended minors into custody.

“Continue to frisk people who are there [on the streets],” Duterte said during a speech in  Cagayan de Oro City earlier this weekend. “That is legal.”/DGB, WDJ