Topless men, street boozers rounded up

Central Police District (CPD) officers rounded up around 50 men who were caught without their shirts on or holding drinking sessions on the streets of Cubao the other night.

Superintendent Benigno Durana Jr., chief of CPD-Station 7, said the men were invited to the police station as part of a parallel effort of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) to bring back order in the streets.

The apprehended men, who claimed ignorance over the recent imposition of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and NCRPO against "topless" men in public places and drinking on the streets, were later released.

Durana said that the first warning earned those men a place in the police blotter. Should they be apprehended again for the same offense, they would be fined and sent to jail.

Police said that the 50 men were rounded up in the nine barangays under the jurisdiction of the CPD-Station 7, namely: E. Rodriguez Sr.; Silangan; Socorro; San Roque; San Martin de Porres; Kaunlaran; Bagong Lipunan; Valencia; and Horseshoe.

The "Bawal ang Hubad sa Public" policy has set a P500 fine per violator while those caught violating the "No Drinking in Public" ordinance would be fined P2,000.

The MMDA issued the order in cooperation with the NCRPO, which had similarly launched the "Broken Windows Theory" under newly-installed NCRPO chief Director Avelino Razon Jr., who believed that disorderly communities are breeding ground of criminals.

In a related development, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay asked the MMDA to explain the basis for the "anti-topless" regulation.

Last Wednesday Binay sent a letter to Razon stating his position on the campaign against "topless" men.

"While we see the merit in the effort as a way of encouraging basic decency in public places, we wish to point out that, in the absence of actual ordinances covering that subject enacts by the respective local government units (LGUs) that comprise Metropolitan Manila, any move to apprehend or even warn ‘violators’ will have no legal basis in point of law," the mayor said. — Katherine Adraneda, Evelyn Macairan