Romana tips LBC execs on security

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Police Office director Senior Superintendent Noli Romana met with LBC branch managers yesterday morning to discuss how the courier firm could improve its security practices following the recent strings of LBC robberies.

The LBC managers agreed to participate in a drill and comply with the local city ordinance requiring them to install closed-circuit television cameras in their respective establishments.           

Romana said he asked the LBC managers to meet with him to discuss how they can improve the security efforts in their branches. They have agreed to conduct a security drill to the cashiers, tellers and other personnel.    

Romana said it is important that tellers should know what to do in case they are robbed by armed men because most of their branches do not have security guards.

Sherwin Navarro, LBC southern Cebu head, said the discretion whether or not to hire security guards belongs to their main office.

Right now, he said they are just relying on police visibility because the management has other projects in hand.           

Navarro assured that LBC will comply with the city ordinance requiring financial establishments to install CCTV cameras in their premises, adding that they will fix defective cameras in their branches.

For his part, Romana said that they can only ask the establishments to hire guards but they cannot force the companies to get one.

In the series of LB robberies lately, police found difficulties in identifying the robbers because LBC’s CCTV cameras were not reportedly functioning when the crimes were staged.

In Cebu City alone this year, at least three LBC branches were robbed, including branches in Taboan, Escario and Punta Princesa.

The Punta Princesa robbery on Tuesday noon enabled three armed men to cart away P5,000; it was the second incident in just eleven months for that same branch.  

Police earlier complained that Punta Princesa branch employees were “uncooperative and sarcastic” but in yesterday’s meeting, LBC’s top leaders in Cebu assured the police that they will cooperate in the investigation. — (FREEMAN)