MANDAUE City will install more security cameras in public areas and provide the police with more of the equipment they need, as as a response to the explosion in Davao City last Friday.
Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing visited the office of Mandaue’s Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) unit in the Parkmall compound to check the equipment they have and find out how the City can help them.
Senior Supt. Roberto Alanas, director of the Mandaue City Police Office, was with Mayor Quisumbing when they visited the Swat office yesterday.
Quisumbing said the City Government is stepping up its capabilities “to ensure that similar acts will not happen in the City of Mandaue.”
The mayor said he intends to expand the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera system in the city, which currently focuses on road networks, to public areas like malls, markets, and churches.
Quisumbing said that the City will also acquire two trucks, more rifles and communication equipment for the Swat.
The City will also make some streets brighter by putting LED lights along the roads and installing LED billboards on skywalks to serve as an early warning system for re-routing of traffic, weather updates, and public service announcements.
A mobile tracker for the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue and a drone to be used by the personnel in the Command Center will be purchased, the mayor said.
“We need the cooperation and vigilance of every resident of the city of Mandaue to make sure that if there are any suspicious people or suspicious activity, please let us know,” Quisumbing said.
He urged people to call the 911 national hotline or the City’s hotline 09988574370.
Quisumbing said that local officials have been closely coordinating with the Muslim community in the city.
“We enjoy a very good relationship with our Muslim brothers just like the Muslim community in Mantuyong,” the mayor said.
Earlier, 25 leaders of the Muslim community in Cebu expressed support for efforts to keep the province safe. They also asked the public to spare them from discrimination, after the Abu Sayyaf Group claimed responsibility for the night market explosion in Davao that killed 14 persons and hurt 71 others.
In a press conference, Senior Supt. Roberto Alanas, director of the Mandaue City Police Office, said that even before the Davao explosion, they already had close coordination with the Muslim community in Mandaue.
Alanas met with the Muslim leaders in the city last Saturday, the day after the explosion.
“Maasahan natin sila. Ibig sabihin kaisa natin sila sa ating programa para sa peace and order dito sa (We can rely on them. They are one with us in terms of maintaining peace and order in) Mandaue City,” he said.