A new curfew is imposed on bars in Baguio City.
For the past few years, curfew on bars was set at 2 in the morning. Now the city mayor turns Baguio into Cinderella City cursed with a 12:00 midnight curfew!
Mr. Mayor reckons: an earlier closing time for bars, pubs and other entertainment establishments is one of the better ways to address Baguio’s increasing crime rate.
They flagged statistics to the opposition: an increase here and there. I’m unconvinced and still inclined to believe that Baguio has one of the lowest crime rates in the Philippines or at least comparably lower with the other major cities in Metro Manila where curfews are called for only when revolts are in-season…like Jolina on fashion.
My recent remoteness to the City of Pines may discredit any weight to my opinion. And my (waning) passion for nightlife renders me biased on the matter so I did a bit of research-of-a-sort.
I asked a dear friend, a law enforcer from Victoria who once patrolled the streets of one the most livable cities in the world—Melbourne:
In your observation, do closing times of bars and crime rate have a causal relationship?
And here’s his reply:
“There is a direct connection between street crime and bar closing times. The later they close, generally the more trouble there is. Curfews work in reducing public order offences associated with alcohol. By reducing the amount of time in which to drink, people get less drunk and therefore there is less street fighting, vandalism etc.
An alternative used in Australia is an entry curfew, where the bar/club stays open late but after a certain time say 0100hrs no one is allowed entry. The idea is that you stop people roaming the streets from bar to bar causing trouble along the way. The bar can monitor alcohol consumption of patrons to prevent excessive drinking and people behave themselves because if they get asked to leave, there is nowhere else to go.”
I am still against the curfew imposed. But we’ve all heard about the Missouri Compromise (or not).
It’s lust versus law abidance when one’s asked to stop roaming at 0100 hours, but I want safe streets in my favorite city whenever I’m horny or not…
27 September 2006
