CCTV systems in Metro Manila will be linked to thwart crimes - Palace

MANILA, Philippines -  Malacañang will be coming up with a system that would link the closed-circuit television (CCTV) of all local government units in Metro Manila as part of its efforts to curb crime, Executive Secretary and anti-crime czar Paquito Ochoa Jr. disclosed yesterday.

“Link Metro Manila CCTV systems,” is one of the proposed programs the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) which Ochoa now heads, plans to undertake, noting that crimes are “threats to the economy and national security.”

“The seriousness and magnitude of our problems involving organized crimes would need strong and resolute actions,” Ochoa told journalist Pia Hontiveros in her ABS-CBN News Channel program “Strictly Politics” Tuesday evening.

He said criminal syndicates “should be dealt with a clear, well-defined and integrated policy.”

President Aquino reorganized PAOCC through Executive Order 46 that is envisioned to combine the resources and expertise of various law enforcement agencies in order to craft solid policies and guidelines against organized crimes.

“Organized crime has a huge economic, social, cultural and political impact,” he said. “Organized crime also thrives in part because of the corruption of our political system and society. And it feeds this corruption to perpetuate itself.”

Ochoa said among the proposed programs the PAOCC will prioritize are the rationalization of the anti-crime programs of law enforcement agencies to eliminate redundancy and maximize government resour­ces; establishment of a central base crime index to consolidate data on crime and to better assess resources to be allocated; strengthening of existing laws like the Anti Money Laundering Act to enable prosecution of organized crime elements; and linking up, coordination and sharing of resources with the Anti-Terrorism Council and the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC).

Ochoa said efforts should also improve prosecution rates; strengthen the Witness Protection Program; address the killings of journalists and political activists; enhance police training on exercises and proper legal procedures and increase performance standards.

PAOCC is composed of the secretaries of the Departments of Justice, the Interior and Local Government, National Defense and Foreign Affairs, as well as the national security adviser, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, director general of the Philippine National Police, director general of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, director of the National Bureau of Investigation, and the executive director of the PCTC.