DUMAGUETE CITY — City Councilor Rey Lyndon Lawas on Tuesday, Oct. 27, called for stricter enforcement of Dumaguete’s existing ordinances after a scuffle involving teenagers at an establishment on the northern part of the boulevard last Friday, Oct. 23.
Speaking during the privilege hour of the 65th Regular Session of the 33rd Sangguniang Panlungsod, Lawas said he went to the police station after the incident. “Yes, they have already conducted investigation. All parties involved were called upon,” he said, adding that he was “happy to know that… this problem was settled amicably.”
Videos of the incident spread widely on Facebook over the weekend and drew a flood of comments. Lawas did not name anyone involved.
Ordinances on paper, not on the street
“The gist of my privileged speech, Mr. Chair, for this morning is not on that particular incident, but on the aspect of several ordinances that we have drafted,” Lawas said. Some of these, he observed, were never implemented, or were enforced with too little effort.
“Drinking in public is not allowed. We have that ordinance,” he said. “Every Saturday morning, Sunday morning, all you can see along the stretch of the boulevard are empty bottles of intoxicating liquors.”
He said minors were among those involved in the scuffle, which suggested they had been able to drink alcoholic beverages in the area, and that the incident might have been avoided had the ordinances been enforced.
Lawas said he was told the police were short of personnel at the time because a number of them had been required to report to the regional headquarters in Bacolod. But he stressed that keeping order in the area “is not the sole job of the police.”
Call for tanods, parents and businesses
He called on barangay officials and tanods to make their presence felt in the area, especially on Friday and Saturday. “Several incidents have happened, and yet it keeps on repeating, and the community is so wanting of the presence of our law enforcement agencies,” he said.
He also appealed to parents: “Please monitor your children.”
Lawas floated, as “just my idea,” a parking ban on the east side, where he said the incidents tend to happen, and proposed a meeting with all business establishments in the area to agree on what to do collectively.
“The name of Dumaguete as the safest city in the whole country is at stake,” he said. “Yes, it’s an honor, but it’s a big responsibility and challenge how to sustain and maintain that name.”
Session footage: Balita Karon Negros.
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