ILOILO CITY — The director of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) has urged the public to be vigilant during the lean months as he anticipated the possibility of the proliferation of “akyat-bahay” incidents.
“We have to be careful to prevent any crime from happening,” said Senior Supt. Henry Biñas.
He added that crime prevention is the responsibility of everyone and not just of the police. And it’s not all the time that the police are around to keep watch of their houses.
Nonetheless, he cited that theft cases, although most are into shoplifting, have gone down.
Meantime, he repeatedly pushed for the improvement in the resolution of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, especially those installed in the barangays.
“Unfortunately during the purchase there were no specifications (that were prescribed). We have seen, especially by our investigators, that the images were blurred,” he said.
Biñas said he wanted the ICPO Information Technology to coordinate with its counterpart at the city hall so they could get the required specifications.
He cited that crimes in some other cities are easily solved because almost every corner has a CCTV.
He said though that there is no directive coming from the Philippine National Police (PNP) as regard the standard specs of CCTV.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government has a circular that mandates component and highly-urbanized cities to require establishments in their jurisdiction to install a CCTV but there were no specifications.
Iloilo City’s existing CCTV ordinance makes it mandatory for businesses, commercial complexes, establishments and other high-risk places to install video surveillance cameras.
It was amended last year to include motels, drive-in hotels, pension houses, lodging houses and seaports as among the high risk areas.
“I am pushing that the CCTV ordinance be amended and provide specifications,” he said, adding that he wanted to have it first in the barangays. (Perla Lena/PNA)
