For City Hall permit: Event organizers told to have security plans

CEBU, Philippines - All concert promoters and organizers are now being required by the Cebu City Council to submit first to the police authorities their security and traffic plan as one of the requirements in securing permits from City Hall.

Councilor Augustus Pe Jr., chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Safety of the Cebu City Council, observed that from time to time commotions and altercations have occurred in these events where huge crowds gather.

Such altercations or commotions may sometimes lead to incidents such as mobbing, undue pushing and eventually a stampede.

This prompted Pe to propose that in order to prevent such incidents from happening, organizers of events like carnivals, fiestas, disco, concerts, major religious activities, fashion shows and sports tournaments should be required to submit first to the police their security and traffic plan before such a permit is granted to them.

Carbon police chief Glenn Ares earlier reported to Pe that seven of his uniformed policemen who were detailed to augment the security at the New Cebu Coliseum during the exhibition basketball game last September 21, were prevented from entering by the organizers.

Aside from the uniformed personnel, Ares claimed that he also assigned plainclothes policemen as requested by councilor Raul Alcoseba to prevent scalpers from victimizing spectators.

Ares said it was so embarrassing when the said policemen were denied entry by the gate guards because only those with tickets were allowed to get inside.

One person who claimed was the organizer, Ares said, further aggravated the situation when he claimed that the policemen were no longer needed.

The police authorities are disappointed because in almost all events initiated by civilian organizers in Cebu City they fail to inform or to coordinate with the police for security preparations.

“We mostly get information regarding these events from newspapers, thereby leaving us not enough time in hastily preparing our own security plans for the event,” Ares said.— Rene U. Borromeo/BRP   (FREEMAN NEWS)