The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday defended its decision to enter into a multimillion-dollar surveillance contract with a Chinese firm, saying the project will improve police response time by at least 25 percent and help deter and reduce crime in the country by 15 percent.
Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), also clarified that the Safe Philippines emergency response and monitoring system project is not primarily for surveillance but “an integrated system meant to fight crime.”
The project will level up the 911 emergency system of the DILG-Philippine National Police (PNP) and will be used to improve public safety and evidence collection; and in the event of criminal activities, boost prevention measures for disaster-related mitigation and response, and police and fire emergency response in addressing traffic and criminal incidents, he stated in a news statement.
“A similar system is in place in many cities in the world, especially [for] large metropolitan cities like Metro Manila. It’s about time we have a similar system in our country,” Año said.
“Under this project, we can reduce crime by 15 percent and improve response time by 25 percent,” he added.
To recall, on November 19, 2018, the DILG signed the $396.8-million contract with the winning bidder China International Telecommunication Construction Corp. (CITCC) for the installation and activation of monitoring systems in Metro Manila and Davao City.
Under the Phase 1 of the Safe Philippines Project, the DILG will provide 18 local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila and Davao City with integrated operations and command centers and a remote backup data center.
According to Año, all cities in Metro Manila and Davao City will have their own command center in their respective police headquarters. Meanwhile, a national command center will be constructed in Metro Manila, while its remote backup data center will be placed at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.
Metro Manila was identified as the pilot city for the project owing its dense population. Davao City, on the other hand, was chosen to complement the monitoring system already in place in the city.
Meanwhile, the DILG chief assured the public that the government will take necessary measures such as installing protocols and standard operating procedures to protect the data stored in the CCTV system.
“The DILG will install the necessary firewalls to protect the system from hackers and other threats. This will be installed by the DILG and funded by our government,” he assured.
“The public also doesn’t have to worry about data breaches in the project as there will be no storage of classified data or information inimical to national security in the CCTV system,” Año said.
“The project will simply allow our police to respond to criminal activities, address disasters and traffic issues, and apprehend suspects in the event of threats to public order, safety and security,” he added.
Año also clarified that, while the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. was one of the three bidders of the project, owing the company’s failure qualify in the bidding process.
“Huawei and CMEC [China Machinery Engineering Corp.] were disqualified from the bid because they did not meet the standards and specifications of the Special Bids and Awards Committee. Only CITCC met the requirements,” Año said. The PNP has been wanting to build a similar system since the previous administration, but it never took off because of the high cost,” he explained.
The DILG chief said the agency prepared the feasibility study of the National Safe Cities Project, which was submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority in December 2016 for approval.
The name was changed to the Safe Philippines Project together with the submission of the final feasibility study to the Neda which was approved in January 2018.
The Safe Philippines Phase 1 Project is a joint project between the governments of the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China to ensure the effective and efficient management of public order, safety and security, Año said.
“People living in Metro Manila and Davao City will feel a lot [more] safer walking the streets at night knowing that this system is in place,” Año said.
“This will further empower local government units and our police to be more responsive and proactive in addressing crime-related incidents,” the DILG chief said.