City council of Tagbilaran passes a resolution urging the provincial leadership to study the idea of having shorter curfew hours as a way to encourage more business activity.
At the same time, the resolution’s author, Kag. Augustinus “Dodong” Gonzaga says that he is open to have the proposal of shorter curfew hours discussed in a public forum in order to gather more thoughts and views regarding his proposal..
He bared his position in a radio interview on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020 on dyTR, Open Forum.
Gonzaga revealed that proposal to shorten the curfew hours is the idea of the Vice Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso and he was the one who pushed the resolution that got unanimously approved by members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod (SP).
Furthermore, Gonzaga said, the primary reason for the shortening of the curfew hours Is to encourage more business activity in the city. The window between 9 pm to 11 pm will help businesses to get more activity and in turn earn more income.
Moreover, he said that there is a need to know about the position of other stakeholders regarding the resolution passed two weeks ago, on Sept. 11, 2020, looking at shortening the general curfew imposed on all residents in Tagbilaran City.
A general curfew is imposed on all residents of the city from 9 pm to 5 am the following day, based on the executive orders issued by Gov. Arthur Yap.
The curfew is being imposed to prevent people from being present in public places as a way to prevent the spread of the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease (Covid).
The city alderman said that peace and order is not the only consideration that should be looked upon when justifying the proposal of shortening the curfew hours.
There are reports that Gov. Arthur Yap had asked Philippine National Police (PNP) provincial director Col. Joselito Clarito to find out whether or not shortening the curfew hours would have an impact on the peace and order situation in the city.
The city councilor said that the mayor has maintained his silence regarding the issue.
For this reason, the city council chose to forward the said resolution to the governor for his comments re the proposal of shortening the curfew hours.
Admittedly, Gonzaga said, there is no data showing that giving a two-hour window indeed will increase business activity for the simple reason that the proposal has yet to be imposed.
Gonzaga, in the same interview, cited data coming from the City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) saying that the city is relatively peaceful as far as crimes are concerned during the times of from 9 pm to 11 pm.
He hopes that the provincial board or even the governor will call for a public hearing or forum to discuss the idea of shortening the curfew hours.
City dad proposes shorter curfew, opens doors for discussions
