City threatens to padlock LBC

CEBU, Philippines -  Following the string of robberies of LBC branches, Mayor Michael Rama has threatened to temporarily revoke the permits granted to all of the courier firm’s branches in Cebu City until they comply with the necessary security measures.

“They should be taking my statements seriously because I’m really bound to have their business permit restudied for temporary suspension of their business until they comply with security measures,” he warned.

To do this, Rama said he might be exercising his police power, but this has to be studied carefully by the City Legal Office.

“CLO will back me up for police power and regulation capability for temporary revocation until they (LBC branches) will be able to bring sanity in assisting and putting up all the necessary security measures,” he added.

With the spate of robberies, Rama claimed that the firm seems to take advantage of it for free publicity.

“They’ve become very glaring. Is that robbery for purposes of publicity? Is that robbery to be just taken by them lightly and they can’t afford to invest in security? They think by doing so, they are also promoting LBC? It’s unfair promotion at the expense of the city,” he asked.

“Ato na gwardyahan (LBC outlets) usa ka battalion police diha tapos ang kwartahon singko mil tapos sila ang mosikat. Dako na nga mileage, kamo (media) nakapasikat nila pagmaayo, nakalibre sila og advertisement. Mas ganahan siguro sila sige kawatan og P5,000 kay mas mahal man pa-advertise,” he added referring to  the LBC Punta Princesa robbery last Tuesday.

LBC southern Cebu head Sherwin Navarro was not available for comment yesterday.

In Cebu City alone this year, LBC branches in Barangays Punta Princesa, Kamputhaw and Taboan already lost over P57,000 to robbers.

Rama is planning to conduct an ocular inspection of the said branches anytime next week.

The police noted that while these outlets have closed-circuit television cameras, they were either busted or switched off when the robberies occurred.

They, however, added that the absence of security guards was apparent in the victimized outlets, something that Navarro admitted in an earlier interview.

Navarro said the discretion whether or not to hire security guards belongs to their main office, adding that they are just relying on police visibility for now as the management focuses on other projects.

Rama stressed that if the courier firm won’t heed the provision of the law, they should think of transferring operations to other cities.

The CCTV Ordinance of Cebu City requires all business establishments and residential subdivisions and condominiums operating in Cebu City to install surveillance cameras.

These include banks, moneychangers, lending institutions, pawnshops, gas stations, Internet cafés, private schools, privately-owned wet and dry markets, hotels, motels, inns, travel agencies, coffee shops, junk shops, terminals and retail establishments with an annual gross sales of not less than P5 million.

The ordinance’s scope also includes shopping malls, privately-owned paid parking lots, entrance/exit gates of residential subdivisions and condominiums, and private hospitals.

As contained in the ordinance, an establishment’s CCTV system shall have a recording speed of not less than 30 frames per second, sufficient memory to retain data for at least 30 days, time-stamping feature, with retrieval and viewing functions while in operation; and is provided with independent uninterrupted power supply system.

Its penalty provisions include a fine of P2,000 for first offense; P3,000 for the second offense and P5,000 for third offense. Third offense also means closure of the business establishment or revocation of the development permit of the residential subdivision and condominium concerned until such time that the violators are able to comply. —/BRP (FREEMAN)