QC eyes CCTV cameras in public schools

MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City government is mulling the installation of CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras in public schools to improve the security measures for more than 400,000 public school students.

“Surveillance cameras are needed to make up for the lack of security personnel in Quezon City’s public schools,” said City Mayor Herbert Bautista in a recent meeting on child safety in public places.

The meeting was organized by the city government and the Quezon City Association of Filipino-Chinese Businessmen, Inc. QCAFCBI, with top police officials.

In a statement, Bautista said the city government remains serious in its anti-crime campaign especially human trafficking and kidnapping.

Quezon City is known to have the largest school age population in the country. Data from the city government showed that of the estimated 572,896 school-age children in Quezon City in 2010, 72.5 percent were enrolled in the city’s public schools.

Bautista noted that the city government requires establishments such as banks, malls, gasoline stations, supermarkets, pawnshops, money-changers, 24-hour convenience stores, schools, restaurants and car dealers to install surveillance cameras within the premises to monitor suspicious movements and possible crimes like robberies.

The city’s business permits and licensing office also began implementing the “no CCTV, no business permit” policy so that businesses can first acquire additional crime prevention and detection gadgets before being granted permits.

The city government is likewise installing CCTV cameras in critical areas such as major thoroughfares and densely populated communities.

Bautista said they have allocated P50 million to P100 million for its CCTV requirements.