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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Wednesday, June 7, 2017
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ILOILO City – The rape of a young woman at a motel in Mandurriao district last week has again prompted calls to require security cameras in this type of establishments.
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will not only curb crimes but may also discourage immoral acts in these establishments, said Councilor Jeffrey Ganzon.
“We will be hitting two birds with one stone. Kon ako maglantaw, ang immorality nga issue kag criminalities (are connected),” he said.
Motels and similar establishments here have gained notoriety as rendezvous for commercial sex transactions, drug trafficking and even extramarital affairs.
Regulation Ordinance No. 2011- 307 must be amended, said Ganzon, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s committee on police, fire, penology, public safety, order and security, dangerous drugs and rehabilitation.
The ordinance requires high-risk businesses to have security cameras but does not cover motels, lodging houses and similar businesses.
The city council has a “moral responsibility” to make such amendment to curb the commission of crimes, said Ganzon.
He urged colleagues to support Councilor Ely Estante’s proposal to amend Article 3 of Regulation Ordinance No. 2011- 307.
“Ang purpose is kon may mga incidents ma-identify (suspects) right away for easier investigation on the part of the police,” said Ganzon.
According to Estante, motels, lodging houses and similar businesses are now high-risk, recalling that June last year a 15-year-old girl was killed inside a lodge in Arevalo district.
“They are prone to crimes because of their uncomplicated check-in and check-out scheme,” he explained.
In last week’s rape case, a young woman claimed she was taken there by a male friend who took advantage of her being inebriated.
It was only when she regained consciousness that she realized she had been raped, but her friend had long left the motel.
Regulation Ordinance No. 2011- 307 currently considers as high-risk only banks (including their satellite offices, branches and automated teller machines, money changers, pawnshops, and other credit lending and financial institutions); hotels; malls; supermarkets; fuel, petrol or gas stations; transport terminals; convenience stores operating 24 hours or which operate during night time; private schools; stores selling liquor (including but not limited to disco houses or clubs); and places and spaces where critical assets or properties of the city government are situated.
When the ordinance was being deliberated a few years ago, motels, lodging houses and similar establishments were considered for inclusion. However, the operators of these businesses protested.
They claimed the privacy of their clients would be violated and this, in turn, would adversely affect their operation.
Estante is hopeful that this time around, the operators would agree to be covered by Regulation Ordinance No. 2011- 307.
Recently, the court dismissed the case, particularly violation of the ordinance, filed by the city government’s Task Force on Morals and Values Formation against the owner and manager of Moonlight Lodge in Arevalo district where a 15-year-old girl was killed in June last year.
According to the court, the ordinance covered high-risk establishments only, not lodges or inns and similar establishments./PN
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