ERRING pawnshops and lending institutions in Bacolod City that failed to secure closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras should be penalized.
This was stressed by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran Thursday, February 25, 2021, after around 13 pawnshops and lending institutions were found with no CCTV cameras within their premises.
Police Colonel Manuel Placido, director of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), earlier sent a letter to Permits and Licensing Division head Stella Rose Rayos informing her that around 13 pawnshops and lending institutions violated City Ordinance (CO) No. 600 Series 2002 of Bacolod City based on their security survey conducted in various areas of Bacolod.
CO No. 600 required all pawnshops and lending institutions, as well as other certain business establishments within the City of Bacolod to install CCTVs within their premises.
Familiaran, one of the authors of CCTV ordinance, said based on the existing ordinance, violators should pay their penalties.
He said the notice of violations will be served by the City Legal Office and the Permits and Licensing Division.
“We should follow our law because this is for the benefit of everybody. We are implementing that ordinance for the safety of the businessmen including their employees,” he added.
Familiaran noted that in previous years, a series of hold-ups were recorded in Bacolod City and some of it involved pawnshops and lending institutions.
“The ordinance was approved for the protection of their business and the general public,” Familiaran said.
He said the Permits and Licensing Division should not renew the business permit of the erring pawnshops and lending institutions if they still fail to install CCTVs within their premises.
Placido earlier said the installation of CCTVs is part of their anti-criminality campaign, as it anchors CO No. 600 Series 2002 of Bacolod City.
He said as per BCPO record of crime incidents, some pawnshops and lending institutions were being targeted by criminal elements, particularly robbers, whose installed CCTVs were defective or had no CCTV installed at all.
“These premises were found violating the city ordinance. We at the BCPO believed that through this, we can contribute to the prevention of occurrence of crime in the city and assist our police investigators in easily solving the crime incident if in case there is,” he added.