Fines for firms with no CCTV cameras in Pasig

The Pasig City council has approved an ordinance imposing fines on businesses which have a capital or annual gross income of P1 million, but have no spy cameras installed in their vicinity.

The  ordinance approved unanimously was the amended version of  a 2007 ordinance which required only pawnshops and financing institutions to have their own closed-circuit television cameras installed.

Money exchange shops, malls, 24-hour convenience stores and other establishments with  capitalization or a gross income of at least P 1 million, are now  covered by the new measure.

Roberto Barreto, Pasig council secretary, said the new regulation was the local government’s response to the series of robberies involving small businesses which were usually more vulnerable to crimes because they are less secure.

Earlier, the Pasig police said the robbers have begun eyeing the “small preys” perhaps thinking they could easily get away with their loot, however small.

The ordinance, which was signed on Dec. 22, 2011, will be effective some time in February this year, Barreto said.

Those who already have installed CCTVs must also conform.

For those who fail to comply with the new provisions of the ordinance, the city government is imposing a fine of P5,000 or imprisonment for one to six months. Niña Calleja