CH security breach alarms councilors

CEBU, Philippines - A serious breach of the security at the City Hall has alarmed the members of the City Council following an incident Thursday last week in which an unidentified person shut down the circuit breaker of the legislative building.

The incident was revealed yesterday by Councilor Noel Archival Sr. during the council’s regular session where he delivered a privilege speech. 

“Last Thursday, February 12, 2015, at around 9 a.m. the regular routine of our employees here in the fourth floor of this building was disturbed due to the shutting down of the 4th floor circuit breaker which causes a power stoppage,” Archival said.

The closed-circuit television footage revealed that the person responsible was wearing red shirt with white jacket on top. He was carrying a backpack.

Archival said that based on the CCTV footage the person, while on his way to the circuit breaker room, entered through the main door of the building and peeked into some offices such as the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor, the offices of the councilors located on the 2nd floor and SP Library.

“(This incident happened) without being noticed despite the presence of our security guards at the entrance and our working CCTV cameras,” he said.

Archival said a City Hall employee alerted the security guards after he saw the person coming out from the circuit breaker room. However, the guards failed to arrest the person who was able to get out of the building before the security personnel could react.

Archival is asking how the man knew about the location of the circuit breaker, his motive and how he managed to enter the building without being noticed.

“It is alarming, the incident reflects the Cebu City government’s vulnerability to the threats against our properties and most importantly transacting public and the employees’ security and safety,” Archival said.

Due to the incident, the City Council is requesting the CSU to provide progress report of the investigation into the incident and file a case against the person.

The City Council is also requesting the CSU to coordinate with the Management Information and Computer Services in assigning personnel to monitor the daily live video feed of the security cameras. — (FREEMAN)