Tom O’s Christmas wish: A safer Cebu City

“I’M hoping for a safer Cebu City for the holidays.”

This is Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s Christmas message to the Cebuanos.

Osmeña said that despite the challenges being faced by the city which included peace and order, there would be a reason to celebrate because of the different ways the city had conquered the challenges.

“We have peace and order problems, and though we can’t trust the police, we are doing things to make it safer this Christmas,” said Osmeña.

Recently, the mayor called the attention of the IT Park management for failing to light up various areas in the business center causing a security problem in the area.

“The priority is not only focused on call center agents but all the workers at night and a lot of them are call center agents. They are all found inside the IT park so there is a need to tighten the security,” said Osmeña.

Osmeña admitted that he was disappointed with the “explanations” of the IT Park management during their meeting on Tuesday (December 18) regarding the complaints of citizens about the dimly-lit park.

On Wednesday (December 19), the mayor suggested to the IT Park management that retired military men be commissioned to help augment the security in IT Park provided that the management pays for their honorarium of P1,000 a month.

Osmeña said that these retired military men can sell cellphone load at IT Park in designated booths so they can watch over the area and familiarize themselves with the people in the place.

He also suggested that the BPO workers be taught martial arts especially arnis so that they can protect themselves. The IT Park management agreed to pay for the training.

For the mayor, these security measures are his Christmas gift to the hardworking citizens of Cebu City.

“We will be installing CCTV (closed circuit television) in jeepneys plying the critical areas. We have provided buses to provide free transportation,” he said.

“So despite the challenges, we have a strong resolve. Even if many of these things are out of our control, we are doing our best to address the problems,” he added.