LAOAG CITYS CCTV PROGRAM: 2 YEARS AFTER - ITS EFFECTS AND BENEFITS

Upon the recommendation of the Honorable Michael V. Farinas, City Mayor, and Col Sterling Raymund P lanco, then Chief of the City!s Philippine "ational Police, and after # months of deliberations and the conduct of a series of public hearings, $rdinance "o. %&&'(&)' mandating all ban*s, pa+nshops, money changers, other financial institutions and large commercial establishments to procure and install closed circuit tele,ision -CC.V/ e0uipment as part of operations and security measures, sponsored by City Councilor 1oseph H. .amayo, +as passed unanimously by the Sangguniang Panlungsod on 2pril )3, %&&'. .he same +as appro,ed by the 4ocal Chief 56ecuti,e on May 7, %&&'. .his +as further appro,ed on re,ie+ by the Sangguniang Panlala+igan of 8locos "orte on 1une 7, %&&'. 9ith the initial funding of .+o Million -P%,&&&,&&&.&&/ pesos +hich +as sourced out from the certified funds a,ailable in the proposed %&&: 2nnual udget embodied in C$ "o. %&&:(&;&, City Mayor Michael Farinas +ith the cooperation of the Chief of Police and men of the P"P Station of 4aoag City, fi,e -3/ strategic areas +ere identified and installed +ith a modest number of CC.V Cameras as initial implementation of the program. 8n the last month of C< %&&', the period +hen application as +ell as rene+al of business permits starts, C$ "o. %&&'(&)' +as enforced by both the P"P and the 4icensing =i,ision of the City Mayor!s $ffice. .he >"$ CC.V S<S.5M, "$ P5RM8.? +as strictly imposed +here no business permit is granted if there is no compliance +ith the $rdinance. 2s a result, the compliance has been +idely accepted and +hile there +as some sort of hesitation from other business entities, most of the establishments that fall under the re0uisites pro,ided in the $rdinance ha,e complied and the percentage of compliance is ,ery satisfactory and 0uite encouraging. 8n so far as this program is concerned, the 4aoag City @o,ernment under the present dispensation has relati,ely increased its acti,ity such that to date, there are no+ %7 cameras in place at strategic areas in the City. 8n the 4aoag City Public Mar*et alone, there are #% cameras positioned strategically. 2t the City Hall there are no+ ;& cameras assigned in ,arious locations. 8t is 0uite interesting to note that there are no+ se,eral arangay Halls -in the Rural A Urban arangays/ of 4aoag City that ac0uired and had their o+n CC.V System installed. Furthermore, before the end of C<%&)%, Mayor Michael Farinas and the P"P are gearing up to e6pand the installation of CC.V cameras in eight -7/ more areas of 4aoag City. 9ith the benefits and ad,antages gained +ith this program, Col lanco became the First 452= P"P 2+ardee, ha,ing theoriBed +ith the 4C5 this proCect and contributed much to the realiBation of this program. 2bo,e this, 4aoag City achie,ed so many recognitions and a+ards such as est Performing 4@U in conCunction +ith the 4ocal @o,ernment Programs Management System -4@PMS/ of the =84@, Regional Champion in the Child(Friendly City Competition, "ational Champion in the usiness Friendly Competition, 4i*as <aman Champion in Region 8, all +here(in the e6istence of the CC.V Systems ProCect in the City contributed much in the achie,ement of these a+ardsD Crime Rate pre,ention and solution relati,ely impro,ed from 7'E -prior to the installation of the CC.V System/ to '3.)FE to dateD +here there is recorded &.#)% incidence of 8nde6 crimesD and, &.%:% incidence of "on(8nde6 Crimes as of the %&)) 2nnual Report. So far these are the results deri,ed from ha,ing the CC.V System Program in 4aoag City after t+o years of serious implementation. 4aoag City, the Sunshine City and >.he "orthern @ate+ay to the Philippines? +as the first to adopt, implement a proCectGprogram on CC.Vs. yH Hon. 1oseph H. .amayo Sangguniang Panlungsod Member 4aoag City

o$o