Police ensure security in schools, boarding houses

CEBU, Philippines - The police have recommended the strict implementation of curfew in boarding houses in downtown Cebu area as a low-tech measure to secure their tenants.

City Intelligence Branch Chief Romeo Santander said a lot of boarding houses in Cebu City lack the appropriate security measures to protect their boarders from possible intruders.

“Mas maayo gyud nga naay curfew aron ma-force ang mga students’ nga dili manglakaw, (It would be better to enforce a curfew so that the students will be forced to stay home.)” he said.

This was their assessment after inspecting different boarding houses in the city yesterday as part of the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Oplan Balik Eskwela.

The intelligence chief commended boarding houses with strict curfew rules and stressed that discipline is also honed by these types of policies. 

Santander said boarding houses situated in Colon and Kamagayan areas are considered, based on their assessment, as high-risk areas and are more susceptible to criminal activity.

Recently, Santander said they have monitored an increase of petty crimes whose victims are mostly students in the downtown area. He said they have anticipated such increase even before classes started early this week.

He said boarding house administrators should consider investing more on installing security cameras to monitor their boarders and their guests. In doing so, tenants can have peace of mind. This would also help the police in their future investigations if a crime is committed in the area.

The Cebu City Police Office has also deployed three additional policemen for each university to intensify their presence in the areas where students converge.

“We are focusing on schools with night classes. Kay target sa mga kriminal ang mga estudyante nga gikan sa klase, (Criminal elements target students leaving their schools.)” Santander said.

They have divided the entire city into four clusters with specific police units assigned to respond to the security needs of each cluster.

According to the statistics from the Bureau of Fire, there are roughly 3,000 boarding houses in Cebu City, most of which are converted residential houses.  (FREEMAN)