Tuesday, September 26, 2006 Lobregat calls for unified security check on ports By Ulysses Israel
ZAMBOANGA City Mayor Celso Lobregat calls on neighboring cities and provinces to tighten security checks in their respective ports in order to deter movement of loose firearms and explosive materials.
Lobregat said the city has tightened security measures in port areas as well as vessels leaving the Zamboanga City port.
However, the mayor noted the poor security measures in other ports with vessels coming to the city. He said this could either be just sloppy security management or the unavailability of the necessary equipment, like x-ray machine or metal detectors, to check on the entry of illegal firearms and explosives.
Lobregat said Major General Eugenio Cedo, the commander of the Western Mindanao Command, has given orders to secure all entry and exit points in the city and that should be the standing order.
He said other ports of origin should also have their own security measures that would restrict the flow of illegal firearms and other materials that could be used for making bomb.
Some people have expressed concern that in the ports of Isabela and Lamitan, security forces do not conduct body frisking and x-ray machines or metal detectors are not available to check on those carrying firearms.
In the absence of such there is no effective way of restricting the influx of loose firearms into the city, Lobregat said.
Last September 18, combined operatives of Task Force Zamboanga, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureau of Customs and local police seized 24 sacks of ammonium nitrate on board m/v Katrina 3 after Coast Guard Station based in Jolo alerted government authorities here of the presence of suspicious cargoes on board the said boat.
Lobregat pointed out that the seizure of contraband last September 18 was the result of the order he issued to security forces to strictly implement the gun ban in preparation for the month-long celebration of the Fiesta Pilar this coming October.
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