CEBU, Philippines — Preventive measures will be undertaken by the Mactan-Cebu Bridge Management Board (MCBMB) to prevent suicide incidents on the two bridges connecting the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
One proposal for the prevention of further suicide attempts on the Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge and the Sergio Osmeña Bridge (first bridge) is to utilize artificial intelligence to analyze the video footage from the security cameras for a quicker response to civilians crossing the bridge demonstrating signs of wanting to jump off.
According to the members of bridge board, upgraded cameras would still be useless without a fast-processing server to analyze the footage.
The MCBMB also agreed to utilize only one civilian lane for each bridge for closer monitoring along with the deployment of a police outpost.
"We would like to ask the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) to put up the necessary barriers for both bridges," said Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, MCBMB chairperson.
The side railings will also be upgraded from the standard 90 centimeters to make it hard for the suicidal civilians to scale. The railings will now be doubled in height. All of this is to discourage any effort to commit suicide on the two bridges.
The MCBMB convened for their monthly meeting at the Capitol yesterday which coincides on International Suicide Awareness Day.
A total of four successful suicides have been committed in the two bridges recently, including that of a promising young athlete.
"Kadtong mag-suicide ganahan na man gyud sila mamatay, pero kita maoy nahassle," Garcia told the members of the board.
In a report presented by Leo Bacus of the Traffic and Security Monitoring System, it was found out that there exist blind spots not covered by the CCTV cameras installed in the bridges.
A request was already submitted to the Province of Cebu by the Monitoring System for additional CCTV units. (FREEMAN)