Palace allays ML fears amid ‘tambay’ directive

Malacañang yesterday assured the public that President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to the Philippine National Police (PNP) to go after tambays or late night bystanders on the streets will no way be a prelude to the declaration of nationwide martial law.

“According to the President, martial law in the entire Philippines will become very complicated,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said at a press briefing held at Cotabato City State Polytechnic College yesterday.

“The President has absolutely no intentions right now, unless there would be reasons to do so,” he added.

Roque said the public need not worry since there are “built-in” guarantees one the directive, citing the Bill of Rights, which assures every citizen of fair and just trial.

The Palace official explained that both Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Philippine National Police (PNP) are already working on the guidelines for the implementation of such directive.

“Let us wait for the guidelines of the DILG and the PNP,” Roque said.

The PNP high command will be coming out with official guidelines in its intensified campaign against loiterers throughout the country to ensure that human rights are observed and protected during actual operations.

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde on the other day said that he already ordered the Directorate for Operations and the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management to craft the policies to guide policemen in enforcing local ordinances.

Albayalde stressed that the PNP is not rounding up individuals loitering in the wee hours of the day for vagrancy, which has long been decriminalized, but for violations of various ordinances.

“We will consolidate (local ordinances) nationwide…implementation of city ordinances forms part of our police operational procedure and it is stated in our POP that respect for human rights is a paramount consideration (during our operations),” said Albayalde.