CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yet again warned that he would cancel the allowances of all the barangay tanods but this time, if they fail to address the problem of recruitment of minors to gangs.
Osmeña said the matter has been a problem before and it only proves the inefficiency of the tanods.
“In places where there is the presence of children going around, violating the (curfew) ordinance, we see that the tanods are not effective,” he said.
He said the curfew ordinance for minors should be enforced to deter petty crimes and creation of gangs.
If the tanods fail, he will hire more Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) personnel to focus on the matter instead. But for now, he said, the city will continue to build up a drive against the problem.
“You have to earn whatever you get. You are not entitled to anything,” he said.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, the deputy mayor for police matters, called the attention of all barangay officials of all of the city’s 80 villages to help crack down on gangs.
Tumulak said the gang members are responsible for vandalizing walls and other public structures.
In a recent investigation, minors who are in Grades 4, 5 and 6 were already members of a gang. He said the minors joined the group out of plain curiosity.
The recruited minors were burned at the wrists using lighted cigarettes as their initiation.
“Ug mapatuman gyud ang curfew, ang tanod and policemen will conduct foot patrols, dili mani makita nga problema,” he said. (If only the curfew ordinance was strictly implemented and the tanods and policemen conduct foot patrols, we could not have seen this problem.)
While Tumulak believes the incident is not yet alarming, he advised parents to constantly monitor their children.
Minors or children 18 years old and below are prohibited from loitering or going out of their houses from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., said Tumulak.