Curfews Established in Colón and San Miguelito: David and Boquete Curfew News
Police and administrative authorities in Colón pictured above, sign the curfew measure. Panama President Mulino on August 29 asked the governor of the province of Colón, Julio Hernández, to decree a curfew. He also said that the same request will be made to the mayor of San Miguelito, Irma Hernández. This warning comes as a result of drug trafficking in the midst of Operation Jericho. In a statement from the Police, it was reported that the curfew will be implemented from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday, while a schedule of 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. is established on Fridays and Saturdays. It is important to note that the curfew measure in the province will come into effect once the respective decree is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic. At the meeting between local and police authorities, it was revealed that efforts will be coordinated with the Juvenile Police and the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family (Senniaf), with the aim of ensuring faithful compliance with the instructions given by the competent authorities.
In addition, the authorities are calling on parents and the community in general to ensure that the established schedules are observed and to prevent minors from participating in clandestine parties and to comply with the established schedules. The measure was taken after Mulino warned on Thursday of the alarming situation of criminal gangs and organized crime in Panama, especially in critical areas such as Colón and San Miguelito. The president stressed the urgency of implementing more rigorous measures to combat these groups. He stressed, for example, that, together with the Ministry of Security and other agencies, they are looking for a solution to control the problem.
Most people in Panama City were unaware that a curfew is in effect for minors under 18 years of age because it is not strictly enforced. Between 20:00 and 06:00 Sunday to Thursday and between 23:00 to 06:00 Friday and Saturday, children and teenagers must be accompanied by parents or guardians if they are not at home. Students who must attend night classes need to have a permit issued by their school and must carry it on them when they are out. Minors who violate the curfew may be detained at a police station and only released once parents or guardians arrive to collect them. There may be a fine of up to US$50 for a first-time offender. The amount is at the discretion of the local corregidor (magistrate). Fines are doubled every time the minor re-offends.
In Boquete, each day at 12:00 noon and 9:00 PM there is an alarm, a siren going off which can be heard throughout the entire city. This custom was kept from the previous regime. It was turned on at noon to let the workers from the fields know that it was time to go home for lunch. During the dictatorship regime, at night, it was used to inform them of the curfew, when you couldn’t be outside past that hour, without having a good reason. Discussions amongst the locals suggest that it is a curfew for minors, but not strictly enforced. The anti-juvenile crime measures are still in effect in David with a 9 PM curfew for minors that again, are not strictly enforced currently.
