You’re going to have to watch your mouth the next time you visit Baguio City.
Apparently, people will now be called out if they’re caught cursing in some public spaces in “The Summer Capital of the Philippines,” multiple reports from this week state.
The Anti-Profanity Ordinance ratified late last month declares that people inside schools and business establishments frequented by students — like computer shops — are prohibited from cursing, Sun Star reported.
This applies even when the profanities are not directed at anyone, which means saying “sh*t” after dropping your phone isn’t allowed either.
However, in an interview with radio station DZMM this morning, Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan said that there won’t actually be any serious consequences for those who violate the ordinance.
“It doesn’t have a penalty,” he said in Filipino. The mayor explained that people are simply encouraged to call people out when they curse.
“Just tell people not to do it, that we have an anti-profanity ordinance here,” he said.
They also required establishments to put up anti-profanity signs and obligated teachers to cite students who curse. The parents of kids who refuse to keep their mouths clean will be called in, he said. Schools are also allowed but not required to expel violators.
According to Domogan, the whole point of the ordinance is to teach young people good values.
“Our focus is on kids,” he told DZMM.
However former Education Secretary Armin Luistro doesn’t think it’ll work if the country’s leaders don’t stop cursing themselves.
“For me, it’s useless to ban [profanity] because you’re telling the youth that there are rules for them but what about the [country’s] leaders?” he told GMA News in Filipino.
You know, like President Rodrigo Duterte who can’t seem to get through a speech without spouting expletives.
“If our president uses his position to curse and say violent things like ‘I will kill you,’ … it’s difficult to teach children [and] schools respect or looking out for others when leaders don’t show this,” Luistro said.
Think this rule will work? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @CoconutsManila.
