Manila to use CCTVs vs illegal terminals

As part of his mission as the so-called “traffic czar” of the city, Manila Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said that surveillance cameras would be installed in the city with Lawton as the pilot area.

According to Domagoso, the cameras would be used in the ongoing crackdown on traffic violators and operators of illegal terminals for public utility vehicles.

He told reporters that nine Internet protocol cameras with the capability to zoom in and rotate 360 degrees would be installed in the Lawton area.

“We will temporarily utilize cheap available technology because, as you know, City Hall is bankrupt. But using these wireless cameras, our Mayor Joseph Estrada can see what’s going on in that area using his smartphone,” Domagoso added.

The vice mayor has been leading operations to dismantle illegal terminals and get rid of illegally parked vehicles within a two-kilometer radius of City Hall in an attempt to ease traffic in the area.

According to him, he started implementing traffic rules at the city’s seat of power to show that it could be done. The covered area would be expanded by another two kilometers and “before you know it, we will be addressing the traffic problem [in the entire city],” Domagoso said.

He added that a command center would be set up for the monitoring of surveillance cameras for three purposes: traffic, crime and incident mitigation. Erika Sauler