Friday, May 23, 2008 CCPO to create security teams
THE grisly death of bank employees in Cabuyao, Laguna has dashed plans to create a local team to conduct security surveys in banks here in Cebu.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador said the Cebu Bankers Club called them to an emergency meeting yesterday and informed them that the Joint Anti Bank Robbery Action Council (Jabrac) has announced that there is a moratorium on all inspections with regard to security arrangements inside banks.
Composite team
However, security surveys outside the banks will still be allowed.
The local police and the Cebu Bankers Club have been meeting regularly and one of their plans was to create a composite team from the PNP and the Central Bank of the Philippines to conduct security surveys for each bank.
This was one of their plans to prevent bank robberies.
The survey would have checked on member banks’ security arrangements and would have pointed out the strong and weak points in security.
The bankers club meets regularly with officers from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 every month.
Abeyance
However, with the robbery of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) in Laguna, the Jabrac has informed bankers to “hold in abeyance” such inspections.
Comendador said they have yet to receive the directive from Camp Crame but the club’s counterparts in Manila have informed them of the moratorium agreed upon by the national Jabrac.
Comendador said, though, that even before the incident in Laguna, the banks in Cebu City have been complying with their suggestions regarding security.
During the meeting, he said they also brought up the need for bank employees to immediately ring the alarms during robberies.
Comendador explained that police response time is crucial and that there is a bigger chance of arresting bank robbers if the crime is reported earlier. (MEA)
