Press Statement | 08 April 2026

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers strongly condemns the apprehension of more than 80 Quezon City residents under the so-called “Safe City” campaign, reportedly for curfew violations, drinking in public, going shirtless, and causing nighttime noise. Whatever label officials give it, this was a sweeping and punitive operation aimed at ordinary people, most of them from poor communities, for acts tied to daily life.

Secretary Jonvic Remulla cannot create crimes by press conference. The DILG may invoke its supervisory authority over local governments, and local governments may enforce their own ordinances, but a Cabinet Secretary’s announcement is not a law. Only Congress, or local government units acting within their jurisdiction through valid ordinances, can define prohibited conduct and impose penalties.

We raise a basic legal question: if these alleged violations are punishable only by fines, why were people arrested or taken into custody at all?

The Supreme Court has already made clear in Ridon v. People that when the underlying violation does not authorize arrest, police cannot use it as the basis for a warrantless arrest or search. The government cannot hide behind vague references to existing ordinances. For every apprehension, authorities must identify the exact ordinance invoked, the penalty it carries, and the legal basis for any custodial arrest.

Under the Local Government Code, LGUs may enact penal ordinances, but the penalties they may impose are limited, and many in practice impose fines rather than imprisonment. If the applicable ordinance carries only a fine, these arrests have no clear legal basis.

Minors caught in these operations are entitled to special protection and must not be treated as offenders. In SPARK v. Quezon City, the Supreme Court made clear that curfew ordinances affecting children are valid only if they are narrowly drawn and protective of minors’ rights. Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, children cannot be fined or imprisoned for status offenses such as curfew violations. They are entitled to community-based intervention, not punishment.

A city does not become safer by humiliating poor residents in mass operations over minor ordinance violations. Public order cannot be enforced by stretching local ordinances beyond their terms, bypassing constitutional limits, or treating poverty itself as suspicious.

The NUPL demands the immediate release of all those detained without lawful basis, and a full public accounting of every apprehension made under this operation. If no valid basis for arrest existed, those responsible must be held accountable. ###

Reference:
Atty. Josalee S. Deinla
+639174316396