DADS enact measure prohibiting street gang violence

October 31, 2021 Metro BLISTT

The Baguio City Council has approved on third and final reading an ordinance prohibiting the establishment/operation of street gangs in the city and seeking to prevent the involvement of minors in gang violence.
Authored by Councilors Levy Lloyd Orcales and Betty Lourdes Tabanda, the ordinance shall be known as “Street Gang Deterrence Ordinance of 2021.”
Under the ordinance, establishing or leading a street gang in the city and recruiting/inducing minors to participate in any sort of street gang violence shall be punishable.
A street gang, according to the ordinance, is a “formal or informal group/organization/assembly [that] acts or agrees to act in concert to engage in delinquent behavior, commit street gang violence, or instigate community disorder.”
A City Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (CJJWC) shall be created with the city mayor as the chairperson; Sanggunian’s chairperson of the Committee on Youth Welfare and Sports Development as the vicechairperson; City Social Welfare and Development Officer as the action officer.
Members of the CJJWC shall be the chairperson of the Sanggunian’s Committee on Laws, Human Rights and Justice and representatives from the Public Order and Safety Division, Baguio City Police Office-Women’s and Children’s Protection Desk (BCPOWCPD), and City Youth Development Office; and from the non-government organizations in the city.
The CJJWC shall be tasked to prepare and implement a comprehensive local juvenile intervention program to be submitted to the Sangguniang Panlungsod for approval and integration into the annual Local Development Plan for Children.
According to the ordinance, apprehended minors (any person below 18 years old) shall undergo intervention programs to be prepared by the CJJWC which include counseling including the family members/relatives of the apprehended minor, skills training, seminars on values formation, anger management, and participation in available community-based activities, among others.
Non-minor individuals apprehended through the ordinance shall be subject to the requirements of due process and shall be fined P5,000.00 or imprisonment of one to 30 days or both at the discretion of the court.
The City Social Welfare and Development Office shall craft the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the ordinance. The ordinance was transmitted to the City Mayor’s Office for signing.
(JHG-SP/ABN)