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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Thursday, December 29, 2016
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BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia asked business establishments to install security cameras following the Christmas Day robbery of a department store that killed the Chinese owner and a security guard.
All businesses with a capital of P3 million and above will soon be required to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in their vicinity, said Leonardia.
An unidentified armed man barged into the JDS Mindoro Enterprises Corp. on Locsin Street, Barangay 13 and shot people inside.
The store was about to close at the time of the attack. The suspect carted away around P1 million, police said. Three other Chinese nationals were injured.
The incident alarmed local government officials and business groups.
While the JDS had a security camera, the robbery was not recorded; the management switches it off every time the store closes, police said.
Leonardia said he will make the installation of security cameras a requirement in the application for and renewal of business permits, but not in 2017 yet. Businesspeople will be given ample time, he said.
Businesses may start processing their permits starting Jan. 3.
Leonardia claimed there is already a city ordinance requiring business establishments to install CCTVs. He did not cite the ordinance number.
Several local laws mandate the installation of CCTVs:
* City Ordinance No. 595 series of 2012 (Bacolod City Eye in the Sky Comprehensive Closed-Circuit Television Ordinance)
* City Ordinance No. 600 series of 2012 (for banks and other financial institutions, as well as certain business establishments); and
* the ordinance requiring CCTV cameras in all public elementary and high schools (passed in 2014).
Establishments must also be lighted well to discourage criminals, Leonardia said.
Business groups have formed a group to install lighting fixtures on establishments at Luzuriaga-Gatuslao area, he said.
Meanwhile the Sangguniang Panlungsod condemned the recent killings in the city.
“There is a need for the incumbent local government and police authorities to stop these series of killings,” the councilors said. “These crimes can be minimized, if not totally eradicated, by intensifying police anticrime campaign, police visibility and intelligence data gathering.”
Police should tap the community, including barangay tanods, homeowners’ associations and civic organizations, they said./PN
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