Duterte makes public streets safe again

“If Church officials are so concerned about these “tambays,” then why didn’t Church officials put up shelters for them?”

When President Rodrigo Duterte was still campaigning for president in 2016, he told a large audience of university students in Manila that the people have a right that is so basic, it need not be mentioned in the Constitution or in the statute books. Duterte said it was the right of the people to walk along public streets free from harm, molestation, harassment and intimidation. He lamented that there was so much crime in the streets for the longest time, in Metropolitan Manila in particular, that the people had forgotten that they had the right to be safe whenever they walk in public thoroughfares, especially after dark.

Towards that end, Duterte pledged to make the streets safe again, particularly against drug pushers. He said this meant visible police presence in the streets, and an all-out drive against drug pushers and drug addicts who roam in public places.

Upon his election as president, Duterte made good his promise and launched a full-scale war against drug lords and the narcotics trade all over the archipelago. His drive landed many drug pushers and users to prisons and rehabilitation centers, and almost overnight cleansed the government bureaucracy of public officials who are drug users.

One such public official who made it to the news was Quezon City Councilor Hero Bautista, the brother of the city mayor, who found it necessary to publicly confess to being a drug user, and who later on went on leave. Other local government officials who soon found themselves on the police watch list followed suit.

To carry out his campaign promise to make the streets safe again, Duterte directed the police to round up the vagrants, vagabonds and loafers roaming the streets who are more commonly referred to as “tambays.” These “tambays” are visible along sidewalks and streets, often at night, harassing innocent pedestrians and extorting money from them.

Many of them make lewd calls at young women, including students.

These “tambays” often consist of jobless men and school dropouts who demand free food and liquor from even the smallest of the small time makeshift food stalls that happen to be in their so-called “territory.”

Victims of pickpockets and purse snatchers in urban locations will readily attest that many thieves escape towards areas of the city which are infested with these street hooligans. For fear of the “tambays” in the area, the victims are discouraged from pursuing the thieves.

Many of these “tambays” serve as lookouts in the illicit drug trade. It will not be surprising to note that they are not just pushers but users as well.

The continued existence and the proliferation of “tambays” everywhere give the youth the wrong impression that these thugs are beyond the law and that their nefarious activities are here to stay.

It’s easy for the Church to condemn the ongoing drive against these “tambays” as anti-poor. They conveniently ignore, however, that criminal syndicates ultimately benefit from the illegal activities of many of these “tambays.” Besides, why should vagrants and loafers be allowed to intimidate innocent pedestrians in the first place?

If Church officials are so concerned about these “tambays,” then why didn’t Church officials put up shelters for them?

eventually appreciate the campaign once our streets are safe again.”

Left-leaning politicians and organizations criticize Duterte’s anti-”tambay” measure as oppressive. They insist that if employment opportunities were sufficient, there would be no “tambays.” In the end, the Reds conclude with the non-sequitur that it’s the fault of the government that these “tambays” are unemployed.

These radicals, however, conveniently overlook that many of these “tambays” are unemployable because they are either into drugs, have criminal records, or are simply lazy, or are already satisfied with making a living at the expense of helpless street vendors and pedestrians.

No President since Ferdinand Marcos has seriously addressed the problem of urban criminality, except Duterte. Unlike politicians who exploit “tambays” and similarly situated jobless individuals for election purposes, Duterte seeks no re-election and is free to carry out his campaign promise to make the streets safe again.

“Tambays” are bad for local businesses, threaten public safety, reduce the value of the real estate around them and discourage tourism. The sooner they are off the streets, the better it will be for the taxpaying public and the nation.

Critics of Duterte’s campaign against “tambays” will eventually appreciate the campaign once our streets are safe again.

Speaking of crime, it’s about time Congress appropriates enough funds to construct new, larger penal institutions all over the country, with the national capital region as a priority concern.

The conditions of existing prisons are so deplorable that many inmates die of diseases contracted during or aggravated by their detention.

To say that all existing penitentiaries in the country are congested is an understatement. The prisons are so crowded that it will be inhumane to incarcerate anybody anymore. Yes, inhumane — and that should be the concern of the Commission on Human Rights.

The record indicates that there are many prisoners who are not allowed to post bail and are eventually acquitted after spending years in prison. This fact should be enough reason for Congress to create additional, bigger prisons immediately.

If Congress has money to spend for the needless junkets of its members, it should be able to spare some funds to address this serious problem.