CONFUSION IN THE CITY

“THE public is confused, the police are confused and we are also confused.”

This was the reaction of Dagupan City Prosecutor Victoria Cabrera to Majority Floor Leader Michael Fernandez’s question about the executive order issued by City Mayor Brian Lim and a city ordinance that set different curfew hours in the city.

E.O. No. 38, series of 2021 issued by Mayor Lim decreed the curfew in Dagupan from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. while City Ordinance No. 2225-2020, that amended Ordinance No. 2223, series of 2020, set curfew during the current health emergency from 12 midnight to 3:00 a.m.

Cabrera cited the call of P/Lt. Colonel Benjie Tremor, Dagupan police chief, informing her of  their difficulty of reconciling the mayor’s E.O. with the city ordinance with different curfew periods.

“Magkakaroon tayo talaga ng problema in the implementation,” Cabrera said.

She cited a basic difference- the ordinance is in the form of a law and the E.O. forms part of the laws of the city but the latter has no penalty clause unlike the city ordinance which has a penalty provision for violators.

She suggested that if the police apprehend violators, it should be based on a law that imposes a corresponding penalty. “It is not right that when the police apprehend violators, they just let them go and so are not instilling discipline on the people,” she said.

Cabrera advised the police to impose the E.O. hand in hand with the city ordinance, i.e., when violators are apprehended, police should cite the violation pursuant to City Ordinance No. 2225-2020, in relation to Executive Order No. 38, series of 2020.

When Fernandez cited a situation when a person found outside of his residence at 11:00 p.m. and arrested, Cabrera said it will result into an obscure situation because the apprehended person can say he has no violation based on the ordinance that sets the curfew at 12 midnight but on the other hand, he has a violation under the E.O. that decreed the curfew to start at 10 p.m.

To further qualify the issues on the conflicting laws, Councilor Luis Samson Jr. asked Cabrera whether an executive order is issued mainly to fully implement an ordinance to which the latter replied “Supposedly.”

Samson noted that the conflict arose owing to the absence or poor coordination between executive and legislative branches of the city government, adding that the executive should have coordinated with the legislative branch before issuing an E.O. Cabrera agreed it was the ideal scenario.

Because of the confusion, Fernandez said the SP had written to the legal department of DILG regional office seeking its opinion on which prevails between the two after Mayor Lim wrote the SP seeking to amend the city ordinance on curfew to conform with the E.O.’S curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. to sync with the existing curfew hours in Pangasinan. (Leonardo Micua)

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