SECURITY systems for the seaport, airport and bus terminals of Cebu and Davao City will soon be integrated and monitored in the Office of Transport Security (OTS) in Manila.
Undersecretary Arturo Evangelista, OTS Administrator, said the integration of the security systems will strengthen the intelligence gathering against terrorism and the monitoring of all the seaports, airports, train and bus systems in the country.
Evangelista said Cebu and Davao already have their own security systems in place and it would just be a matter of integrating them through the command center, which will be set up in Manila. They will be the pilot cities.
He added that eventually, the integration will be for the entire country.
The system in Manila will be equipped with facial recognition capability.
Alert systems are in place the moment personalities pass through security cameras in Cebu and Davao and will be recognized Manila.
Evangelista said he is just waiting for the P30-million worth of equipment that will be bid out by the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC).
The OTS is responsible for the security of the transportation systems in the Philippines, including the civil aviation, sea transport, maritime infrastructure, land transportation, rail system and infrastructure.
At present, OTS is dependent on the intelligence gathering network of its personnel on the ground.
The country has 85 airports; 80 of which are managed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, while the remaining five are chartered airports.
An integrated security system is very ideal considering the many islands the Philippines is composed of, Evangelista said.