Mayor angry at LBC for robberies: Close them

Supt. Noli Romana (2nd from left) Cebu City Police Director talks to police officers who responded to the Punta Princesa LBC branch after it was robbed by Motorcycle riding suspects. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

An exasperated Cebu City Mayor said the series of holdups of LBC branches was bad for the city’s image.

He threatened yesterday to temporarily close all LBC branches in the city until they can institute better security measures to protect their clients and their business.

“If they’re going to think that by doing so (being robbed and not having security measures), they are also promoting LBC, it’s unfair promotion at the expense of the city,” Rama announced yesterday.

He ordered the City Legal Office to “back him up” in invoking police power to temporary closure of LBC branches operating within the city.

Rama said the LBC management of LBC should “take his statement seriously” because he won’t hesitate to close down their business.

At one point he wondered aloud whether the management of the LBC, a nationwide courier service, was intentionally being lax about security.

“Is that robbery for publicity?They lose P5,000 , headline dayon sila sa mga newspaper. Dako kaayo na nga mileage oy. Gatuo mo gamay na? Kamo’y nakapasikat nila’g maayo (Only P5,000 was lost and they ended up in newspaper headlines. That’s huge mileage. You think that’s small? You’re making them famous),” Rama told reporters.

He said the city police can’t afford to use its personnel to guard all LBC branches to prevent robberies.

Earlier this week, an LBC branch in barangay Punta Princesa in Cebu City was robbed of P5,000 cash. It was the second time for that branch to be robbed this year.

Close to 10 LBC branches all over Cebu province were robbed this year alone.

Rama said he plans to visit some branches in the city to check their “layout.”

Liable

The Punta Princesa branch had no security guard and their closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera wasn’t working.

Cebu City passed an ordinance last January, requiring business establishments with capital of less than P5 million to install security cameras in their areas.

But it only applies to businesses established after the passage of the ordinance.

Councilor Sisinio Andales, who authored the security camera ordinance, said LBC can’t be held liable for violating it since their outlets were operating before the ordinance was passed.

“Our laws can’t be retroactive. But of course if existing establishments see the need for CCTVs, they can and should put up. But insofar as the ordinance is concerned, existing establishments can’t be liable,” Andales said.