VICE Mayor Edgar Labella asked commercial establishments in Cebu City to hire security guards to ensure protection from criminal elements.
“They should go back to basics (of employing security guards) even if they have security cameras,” he said.
Labella, who chairs the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), cited the LBC robbery in barangay Tabok, Mandaue City where the suspects wore helmets and took P5,000 in cash.
Another LBC branch located along T. Padilla Street in barangay Taboan in Cebu City was also robbed by two armed men who fled on foot with P42,000 last Monday noon.
A Cebu City ordinance passed last January requires the installation of security cameras within an outlet’s premises.
Police investigators already briefed Labella of the Taboan robbery in yesterday’s PCAC meeting. They said the robbers who entered the Taboan branch “were the same people responsible for the Mandaue robbery.”
“I do not want to elaborate on this because I don’t want to jeopardize their investigation,” Labella said.
Labella said security guards remain an effective deterrent against robberies since they can screen customers while security cameras take footage of them.