Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano is keen on penalizing the city’s constituents with heavy fines and community service — even jail time — if they get out to the streets or in public places half-naked.

The city mayor said in a statement that she will impose heavy penalties on erring residents and stressed that the city government will strictly implement the prohibition — which is part of enhancing the new image of Pasay City.

“As part of the measures to enhance further the new image of Pasay City through discipline, cleanliness and orderliness, we will enforce Ordinance 6004, enacted on June 2019, which prohibits persons in the city of Pasay from exposing themselves in a public place half-naked,” Calixto-Rubiano said.

She added that Pasayeños going shirtless in public places or outside their private residences are deemed projecting themselves as “thugs.”

The city ordinance was principally authored by Pasay City Vice Mayor Noel L. del Rosario and co-sponsored by several city legislators including but not limited to Councilors Mark Anthony A. Calixto, Arnel Regino T. Arceo, Jose C. Isidro Jr., Donnabel M. Vendivel, Ricardo E. Santos and Aileen C. Padua.

According to the ordinance, the appropriate manner of dressing needs extra attention of the city government as an orderly act that shall contribute to the atmosphere of decency and high moral outlook of the people of Pasay.

It also added that “the City of Pasay firmly believes that all persons must be in proper attire while in public places or outside of their private residences in the city,” noting that “no person/individual of legal age in the City of Pasay shall expose himself (walk, run, stand, jog or the like) outside his/her private residence half-naked.”