Pasay to banks: Install CCTV cameras or pay daily fine

The Pasay City government has imposed a July 4 deadline for the city’s 77 banks to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras or pay a P1,000 fine daily until the cameras are installed and operational.

Pasay police chief Superintendent Marietto Valerio said bank officials still have 65 days to comply with the directive issued by Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad last April 6.

“Counting 90 days from April 6, the deadline would be on July 4. By then, CCTVs should have already been installed in the different banks in the city,” Valerio said.

He added that before the deadline, the police and personnel from the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office will go around to check if the banks have already complied with the directive, which Trinidad issued in the wake of an ordinance by the City Council.

The ordinance noted that surveillance cameras are effective deterrents to the commission of crimes as they record incidents, help in the identification of the perpetrators of crimes and the footage they take serve as proof of its commission.

Trinidad pointed out that the banks shall make the CCTV footage available to authorities engaged in crime investigation.

Apart from the P1,000 daily fine imposed on bank owners until they finally comply, the violator shall be fined an additional P5,000 if they are unable to preserve CCTV footage for at least one year and if they will not make it readily available to police authorities.

Trinidad may also withhold the issuance of the mayor’s permit to operate businesses in Pasay City in violation of the said ordinance.