EDITORIAL - The best deterrent to crimes

Starting today, Business Process Outsourcing workers in Cebu City will get free rides as part of the local government’s effort to upgrade their security. Buses will be deployed in the Cebu IT Park to ferry call centers workers to some designated routes.

From two destinations, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the free rides will be expanded to cover more routes. These will start from midnight to 6 a.m. when workers are having a hard time catching jeepney rides to and from IT Park.

The free ride program was established by the city government following the death of a call center agent who was shot dead after she resisted when robbers tried to grab her bag while she was on her way home from work in IT Park.

While the public hails the program as part of the move to secure BPO workers, the move is not really the best way to prevent crimes.

Yes, it undoubtedly helps a lot in protecting them from snatchers and robbers lurking around the corner. However, the best way to protect BPO workers is still to put up measures that eradicate the presence of criminals. For BPO workers to feel 100 percent safe whenever they go in and out of IT Park, authorities should see to it nearby areas must be free from snatchers and robbers.

The reason those robbers were able to pull off their trade that led to the death of the call center agent was because of the absence of police visibility. It would have been a different story if there were policemen or barangay tanods detailed in the area the time she was walking.

Through deployment of buses, the city government has already done its part in the effort to give BPO workers protection. Now, the police must do theirs by strengthening security in IT Park and nearby areas. It’s police visibility that is the best deterrent to crimes.