Councilor Luna Maria Dominique S. Acosta, chair of the Comittee on Peace and Public Safety of the City Council, on Tuesday said that there is already a call from the City Mayor’s Office (CMO) to fast track the inspection of the compliance of different establishments on the amended CCTV Ordinance in Davao City.
The said ordinance aims to strengthen the promotion of peace and maintenance of public order and safety in Davao City.
This developed after the close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras of a condominium in Davao City where the murder of couple Jeff Predas and Jennifer Chavez happened were not functioning.
The lack of CCTV also caused the delay of the resolution of the investigation.
“I think they (CMO) already talked with the Business Bureau but I have yet to clarify it.
Pero sabi sa akin ng DCPO is they’ve already coordinated with the CMO for the inspection of the establishments and isali na yung other establishments,” Acosta said.
Acosta said since the ordinance was recently passed, one round of inspection has been conducted, however, condominiums and hotels are not covered in the first round of inspection.
“We prioritized the big establishments like malls, schools, financial establishments that are prone sa mga incidents like the condo incident.
Unfortunately, hindi pa nasali yung mga condominiums and hotels during the first round of inspection,” Acosta said.
Acosta assured that the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), and the Business Bureau will continue to conduct inspections.
Acosta also cited lack of people to do the inspection which causes delay of inspecting establishments.
“Because ang CCTV hindi mo siya basta lang tingnan dahil CCTVs are highly technical. We need trained personnel to do the inspection.
We will prioritized the areas that need to be prioritized. We will do our best na masakop every establishment in Davao City,” Acosta said.
Acosta is hopeful that establishments that are covered (ordinance) will not wait for the inspection before they will improve and maintain their CCTV system.
“Because hindi sa inspection ang importante its your compliance whether or not na-inspect kayo o hindi.
To avoid instances like this, sayang kasi identification could have made the investigation easier if only CCTVs were working,” she said.
Acosta is also hoping that all covered establishments will comply with the ordinance.
The CCTV ordinance was passed in February this year and was already published for a few months already.
“I think that’s enough time for establishments to purchase new CCTVs kung kailangan or maintain their old CCTVs,” Acosta said.
