The shirtless man who was issued with a violation ticket while mixing cement in Mandaluyong City is now the poster of the reform in the implementation of local ordinances in Metro Manila under the Safer Cities Initiative.

And he better prepare this early for an unexpected visitor in his house in Barangay Addition Hills—no less than Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla who said he will personally apologize over the incident.

“I will visit him to personally apologize and I assure him that we will correct this,” said Remulla in a press briefing where he owned up to what he described as lack of specific instructions on how the enforcement should be done.

And that incident in Mandaluyong was included as one of the agenda in the command conference at Camp Crame in Quezon City that was presided by Remulla and PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr. on Monday morning, April 13.

That incident also resulted in the suspension of the ordinance implementation in Manila City. 

“I will explain in the command conference the limits of what should be done. We will review this policy,” said Remulla.

Almost 6,000 people were apprehended in Metro Manila for going topless on the streets since the launching of the Safer Cities Initiative on April 6. So far, more than 60,000 were apprehended for various violations, mostly drinking and smoking in public places.

While almost all of those apprehended were just warned, the implementation was hyped and criticized over what critics described as lack of common sense in the enforcement.

That point was highlighted by the arrest of a topless worker while mixing cement in Mandaluyong City.

For Remulla, there is a need to clear things up to prevent the repeat of similar incidents.

“It was my fault that I did not give clearer instructions on how to do the Safer Cities Initiative. I will make amends and I will make sure that we will talk about this to clear things up,” said Remulla.

But he emphasized that the implementation will continue since this early, its effects on peace and order is gradually being felt. 

He said they will have a clear picture once the data on focus crimes are collated for the month of April. 

“The Safer Cities Initiative has begun and it will progress. It will progress to other forms of making the city safer which I will announce in the next few weeks as we perfect this,” he added.