CH to close financial firms with no guards

CEBU, Philippines - Aside from LBC Express branches, all other financial establishments in Cebu City that do not have security guards will be ordered to temporarily cease operation until security requirements are complied with.

Cebu City legal officer Jerone Castillo said they have decided to include in the closure order all other establishments in the interest of fairness.

"When we enforced the law it should be equal to all that are similarly situated, dili kay mo-limit mi sa LBC Express ra," Castillo said.

According to Castillo, all other money forwarding companies, financial firms such as banks and lending companies, will be covered by the order.

Castillo said his office has already coordinated with the business permit section of the City Treasurer's Office to identify the financial establishments operating in the city.

The City Legal Office had already prepared the order for the temporary suspension of business permits of LBC Express branches that do not have security guards. However, Mayor Michael Rama has yet to sign the order. The mayor was supposed to sign it yesterday but he was in Manila.

LBC has 33 branches in Cebu City, 16 of which reportedly do not have security guards while 17 others are located inside the malls.

LBC southern Cebu head Sherwin Navarro, however, claimed that they already have deployed security guards to different LBC outlets since last week.

"You look around and check our branches and you can see that we already have stationed security guards," he said.

The city officials, however, have yet to verify Navarro's claim.

Castillo defended the legality of the city government's move, citing the conditions set in the business permit.

He said the permit may be revoked anytime if the permittee failed to comply with the terms and conditions.

Castillo said one of the terms and conditions of the permit, which states that a valid permit issued "may be revoked for any other good reasons of general and public interest."

He further argued that failing to hire guards to secure the establishment can be considered already a violation of the terms and conditions.

The establishments' subject of the closure order will be given three days upon receipt of the notice to comply with the requirement.

The series of robberies victimizing LBC Express branches in Cebu City has prompted the city government to temporarily suspend its permit until security measures are complied with.

Meanwhile, because of the series of robberies involving municipal and city treasurer's offices in the province, City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas requested the Land Bank of the Philippines to send personnel every afternoon to collect the city's daily revenue collections.

"Amo na lang g'yud nga ideposito ini’g kahapon kay basin og kita na usab ang mabiktima sa mga kawatan," Cuevas told The Freeman. (FREEMAN)