CDN FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Following the recent shooting incident in a coffee shop that led to the death of two individuals, Cebu City Councilors Joel Garganera and Pastor “Jun” Alcover Jr. called for the stricter implementation of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) ordinance.
“This should be treated urgently with the recent happenings around. This should be given top priority,” said Gargenera.
Garganera said the police will be able to monitor the areas real time with minimal manpower if the CCTV ordinance is properly implemented,
He said police can also maximize their resources to respond to incidents immediately after they happen.
“I haven’t heard how the CCTV systems in our major thoroughfares are being maintained,” said Garganera.
In 2014, the CCTV ordinance was passed requiring residential subdivisions, condominiums, hotels, inns, motels and hospitals to place CCTVs at the entrance and exit areas for security purposes.
The same ordinance was amended in 2018 to include churches, restaurants, bars, fast food chains, recreational facilities, spas, and other business establishments in the city.
Garganera said that it is necessary to have the ordinance strictly implemented following the shooting in a coffee shop on. F Ramos Street that took the lives of two individuals and injured two others.
Garganera criticized the previous plans of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to place CCTV cameras inside jeepneys following robbery incidents inside the public utility vehicles in 2018.
Gaganera said monitoring the CCTV cameras of establishments should be the top priority. He said establishments, whose CCTV are not working, should be penalized.
Alcover, for his part, slammed the mayor for his tirades against the police saying that the mayor has a “criminal mind.”
He said Osmeña is acting this way because he could not control the police following an apparent dispute with the city police director, Colonel Royina Garma.
Alcover urged Osmeña to answer the allegations that he is involved in the illegal butane business and stop threatening the police.
He said that Osmeña should focus on the security situation of Cebu and cooperate with the police instead of “controlling them for self-interest.” / celr