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Thursday, November 10, 2005
Bankers tell councilors: Make subscription to ‘Mars’ voluntary
Several Cebu Bankers Club officials are not keen on subscribing to the Cebu City government’s robbery alarm system, despite Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s assurance it could help the police in responding quickly to robberies.
Cebu Bankers Club (CBC) vice president Harry Uy said he personally does not want to subscribe to the City’s Mobile Alarm Remote System (Mars) because they already have their own security system in place.
Other CBC officials accompanied him in yesterday’s public hearing on Mars, where he sought clarification whether subscribing to the citywide alarm system is compulsory.
“It was stated that establishments were encouraged (to subscribe to the system). But if this will go through a deliberation, we hope ‘encouraged’ will not be changed to ‘compulsory’,” Uy told the council members.
CBC officials have yet to meet all members and come up with a consensus on the matter.
Not mandatory
City Councilor Augustus Pe, who proposed the ordinance to set up Mars along with a set of fees, said it will be up to the businessmen concerned because subscription is not mandatory.
Uy said different banks “have different styles” in terms of security.
“I would say that while this would be good for the individuals, banks already have a security system. Why add some more?” he said.
Testing
Yesterday, the committee on budget and finance headed by Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera asked that the implementation of Mars be put on hold because the system has yet to be tested.
She said there might be kinks that have to be ironed out.
In the public hearing prior to Pesquera’s report, Pe said that through the system, it just takes three seconds for the alarm to reach the central computer at City Hall, once the safety button is pushed.
Pesquera, though, noted that Pe’s ordinance did not clearly define the first, second, and third priority establishments.
Pe also failed to properly identify what level of response the police would initiate for establishments with varied priority assignments.
She said it was not stated, for example, when the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management should start blocking traffic, or when the Special Weapons and Tactics should respond to an alarm raised by an establishment.
The proposal stated that the subscription fee for first level priority establishments like banks would be P3,600, and for second level priority businesses, P1,000.
Pe, however, did not indicate how much an establishment would pay in renewing its subscription.
Osmeña last Monday criticized the council for failing to approve Pe’s ordinance, despite its urgent need. The mayor also threatened to confront who was “sitting” on the proposal. (RHM)
(November 10, 2005 issue)
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