Road accident prompts City Hall to lobby anew for cameras

A Kamputhaw barangay traffic enforcer points to where the Strada pickup driven by 24-year-old Junette July Yamyamin hit lawyer Norma Garciano as she crossed Escario Street.

THE immediate arrest of the female driver who sideswiped and killed lawyer Norma Garcia along Escario Street last Wednesday morning proved the importance of having closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTV) installed on the city’s streets.

Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak said the CCTV cameras installed in major thoroughfares in the city managed to capture images of the Mitsubishi Strada driven by Junette July Yamyamin.

Yamyamin voluntarily surrendered to the Fuente Police Station. Tumulak said the Cebu City government is allocating P20 million this year to purchase additional CCTVs in the second quarter of the year.

The allocation is taken from the P226 million disaster fund. He said 70 percent of the city’s disaster funds were set aside for disaster risk reduction which include the purchase of CCTVs.

Cebu City purchased 20 CCTVs worth P15 million last year. Half of the cameras were installed at city streets while the rest were installed at the mayor’s office.

Tumulak said the purchase was somewhat expensive because it included the purchase of an upgradable system capable of accommodating 100 CCTV connections.

He said they are canvassing a new supplier for additional CCTVs and upgrade the existing system to allow barangays and businesses to connect their security camera systems to the city’s command center.

Tumulak is proposing the levying of a P500 annual service fee. The amount will be collected when establishments renew their business permits. Mayor Michael Rama said the acquisition of more CCTV cameras is already “long overdue”.