Ecija town mayors plan to install CCTVs in 600 villages

PEÑARANDA, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – Mayors in the 27 municipalities of the province are considering installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in some 600 barangays to keep watch over crimes and improve the overall peace and order situation in their respective jurisdictions.

Mayor Ferdinand Abesamis, newly re-elected president of the provincial chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, said the installation of CCTVs will be in their agenda when the new set of LMP officers convenes for their first meeting this week.

Abesamis, a close ally of Gov. Aurelio Umali, ran unopposed as LMP president. Elected with him were Zaragoza Mayor Lovella Belmonte-Espiritu (secretary); Llanera Mayor Lorna Mae Vero (treasurer); Aliaga Mayor Elizabeth Vargas (auditor); Lupao Mayor Richard Ramos (business manager); Gen. Tinio Mayor Virgilio Bote (public relations officer); and Mayors Ubaldino Lacurom (Nampicuan), Jose Francis Steven Dizon (Guimba), Lucio Uera (Pantabangan), Mary Abad (Carranglan), Rolando Bue (Gabaldon), Josefino Angeles (Sta. Rosa), Santiago Austria (Jaen), and Cesario Lopez (San Isidro), directors.

Abesamis said the CCTVs will be interconnected through a central monitor.

“Here in Peñaranda, for example, we will be setting up CCTVs in nine barangays, five each in four central barangays and four each in all the other barangays,” he said.

He added that the high-definition, wireless surveillance cameras will help improve the peace and order situation in the 27 municipalities.

Nueva Ecija has a total of 849 barangays, including those in the component cities of Cabanatuan, Gapan, Muñoz, Palayan, and San Jose.

The LMP plan is aligned with Umali’s proposal last April for the Philippine National Police to install 10 CCTVs in strategic locations in the province before the May elections to keep watch over criminal elements round-the-clock and boost security, particularly in the run-up to the balloting.

Umali said the provincial government would include the acquisition of CCTVs in the budget of the Provincial Peace and Order Council.