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Members of the Manila Police District Station 11 conduct profiling on 28 residents, including eight minors, after they were temporarily detained at a covered court in Binondo, Manila on Aug. 19, 2021 for violating the curfew hours in line with the prevailing enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila.
The STAR / Miguel de Guzman
MANILA, Philippines — Curfews for minors are back in Manila City.
On his first day back in public office, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno signed Executive Order 2, imposing “protection hours” or curfew for children younger than 18 years old in the city.
The order has set the curfew hours for minor youths from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., following the guidelines under Ordinances 8046, 8547 and 8182.
Recognizing the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, there will be no penalty for children below the age of 18 who loiter around the city’s streets during curfew hours.
“No penalty shall be imposed on children for said violations, and they shall instead be brought to their residences or to any barangay official at the barangay hall to be released to the custody of their parents,” the law and ordinance read.
The law requires the ordinance to also provide intervention programs like counseling, group activities for children and parenting education seminars for children at risk of committing criminal acts.
Moreno said there have been reports of kids wandering the city late at night, causing residents to feel anxious and restless about the possible threat to peace and order in the city.
Among the cases he mentioned are minors purchasing and drinking alcohol outside at night, brawls, street fights, illegal substance abuse and petty crimes like theft.
“To promote the welfare of children and to protect them from any and all forms of harm that may befall upon them, there is a need to impose protection hours on minor children and wards, while at the same time recognizing and upholding their constitutional rights,” the order read.
Moreno instructed the Manila Police Department and the Manila Department of Social Welfare to enforce the protocols and establish checkpoints at the entrances and exits of the city.
His executive order, however, does not negate the responsibility of parents in Manila to keep their children close and remind them not to loiter in public places during curfew hours.
In a chance interview on Wednesday, July 2, the Manila mayor explained that he only wants the city government to serve as the children’s “extra parent.”
But if minors are hard-headed and stubborn and refuse to comply with the curfew hours, Moreno said they will just have to face the law.
During his inaugural State of the City Address on Tuesday, July 1, Moreno said children should simply go to bed and avoid disturbing their neighbors and worrying their parents.
“On a serious note, when these feral kids go wild, they cause mayhem, public disturbance and danger to themselves and [be] worrisome for the parents,” he said.
This wasn’t the first curfew for minors in the Philippines. Back in 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Metro Manila cities enforced curfews for minors through local ordinances.
