(Eagle News) — The Palace on Thursday, June 29, said those who think the intensified campaign against loiterers was not legal should question it before the Supreme Court.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the pronouncement, as he also welcomed a congressional investigation into the same.
Roque made the move after Senator Bam Aquino filed a resolution seeking a Senate probe into the death of Genesis Argoncillo, who critics said was arrested for merely loitering, in detention.
The police argued, however, that he was arrested for causing “alarm and scandal.”
The Makabayan bloc also filed a similar resolution in the House of Representatives.
“We are not criminalizing vagrancy..We are implementing the laws,” Roque said.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the intensified campaign against loiterers citing what he said was the need to ensure the public’s safety.
The police have said they only arrest loiterers if they violate national laws and ordinances.