AFTER Monday’s robbery of an e-bingo outlet in Mandaue city, police emphasized the need to follow a city ordinance requiring business establishments to install security cameras.
The betting outlet in City Times Square in barangay Tipolo was robbed of P1.9 million last Monday.
The heist took place in the afternoon across the office of the police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) office.
No suspects have been identified yet. The outlet had eight CCTV cameras.
“Business establishments should follow city ordinances. They must be security conscious,” Senior Supt. Petronelli Baldebrin, chief of the Mandaue City Police Office, said in a press conference.
The ordinance states that banks, department stores, schools, gasoline stations, pawnshops, lending firms, convenience stores, and other establishments which are open 12 hours a day are required to install CCTVs.
Offices of the city or national government must also install CCTVs in public places where people frequently converge such as churches, parks, plazas, terminals and major roads.
In the recent robbery, the 8 E-Bingo Club had eight CCTVs but the one installed near the vault was not functioning.
The club didn’t have a security guard at the time.
“The club has very poor security. Businesses like this involving a big amount of money should have security guards,” Baldebrin said.