Roxas City Council passes Anti-Topless Ordinance

By Felipe V Celino 

 

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – Several residents in Roxas City are in favor of the anti-topless or half-naked ordinance authored by Councilor Jericho Angel Celino.

A certain Jojo said “it’s good so that the males could be respected.”

The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Roxas City recently passed the ordinance to promote “decency, propriety and orderliness.”

People of all ages must observe proper decorum wherever they may be, according to Celino.

But there are exemptions to the ordinance:

– persons inside private premises

-activities or events with special permit issued by the city government/implement agencies;

-in cases of medical emergencies

-indigenous peoples wearing ethnic clothes

-when in public swimming pools, beaches and rivers

-persons engaged in sports activities

What are the penalties for going topless in Roxas City?

-first offense – a warning

-second offense – P500 fine

-third offense – P500 fine plus community service

What happens in the fourth or more offenses? Here, the ordinance is vague. It stated that the violator must pay a fine (although no amount was specified) or suffer imprisonment (it did not say for how long) or suffer both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.

The ordinance tasked the Roxas City Traffic Management Unit, the Roxas City police, and barangay officials to enforce the ordinance.

Exposed upper torsos (with nipples and areolae showing) were and are normal in many indigenous societies. However, modern societies have developed social norms on modesty requiring covering up torsos in public.

Some conservative societies consider people – especially women – who expose their nipples and areolae as immodest and acting contrary to social norms, and cite them for public lewdness, indecent exposure, public indecency or disorderly conduct.