San Juan, Philippines – In this  Metropolitan Manila city – San Juan – it is illegal to be seen half-naked in public. It can mean a fine or up to three to five days in the city jail.

The city government has banned people from appearing half-naked or shirtless in public places as it noted that being a “premier urban center,” San Juan must “set an example of orderliness, propriety and decency.” “No person shall move about (i.e. walk, jog, run or the like) in public places and outside his public (sic) residence half-naked or wearing clothing covering only the lowermost portion of the body without any top apparel,” said a provision in the ordinance approved and passed by the city council and Mayor Guia Gomez months ago.

The ordinance applies to everybody, including babies. Although Section 2 refers only to people who go out in public without any upper clothing, Section 3 defines “half-naked” as either topless or bottomless, specifically, “wearing clothing covering only the lowermost or uppermost portion of the body with the absence of any top or bottom apparel.”

Yesterday, a Filipino man whose name was withheld by authorities  was arrested for bathing completely naked in his front yard using a garden hose. Hours later, he was released for lack of sufficient evidence to charge him with misdemeanor related to the new ordinance. The man’s lawyer, Atty. Pedro Batongbakal, said that his client did not violate the law since the new ordinance says nothing about appearing  in public “completely ” naked. He said the language of the ordinance is clear that a violation consists of being “either” topless or bottomless, not both.

The city’s prosecuting attorney did not challenge Batongbakal’s argument, so the man was immediately released.