Duterte issues order vs. tambays; solon sees martial law redux

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered authorities to step up their campaign against loiterers in the streets whom he viewed as “potential trouble for the public.”

Duterte issued the directive in a speech before uniformed personnel on Wednesday evening in Malacañang prior to presiding over the joint command conference with the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In his speech, Duterte said the streets were for law-abiding citizens and should not be a haven for drug users and criminals.

He then turned his attention to “tambays” or loiterers, warning them of consequences if they did not go home. 

“‘Pag hindi kayo umuwi ihatid ko kayo doon sa opisina ni ano --- Pasig. Ako nang bahala. Ilagay mo lang diyan. Talian mo ‘yung kamay pati. Ihulog ko yan diyan sa…,” Duterte said.

“You [have to] be strict. Part of confronting people who do not do nothing and just idling around, they are potential trouble for the public,” he added.

Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin slammed the President’s directive.

“Nothing wrong with fighting crime being a responsibility of government. But if you go down to going after tambays and having them thrown in the Pasig river, then something must be afoot now that President Duterte views common crime being a national security threat,” Villarin said in a statement.

“Is this martial law redux when even converging in streets will lead you to jail or worse make you disappear in the murky waters of Pasig or somewhere else?

Even before the President’s order, policemen were already implementing ordinances against drinking liquor in the streets and going out half-naked. —KBK, GMA News