City execs urge JHMC: Restrain security guards

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The city council urged the John Hay Management Corp. last week to restrain its security personnel from patrolling the 13 barangays located within the Camp John Hay reservation.

The body in Resolution 167 series of 2012 adopted the recommendations made by Councilor Nicasio Aliping Jr. in his privilege speech recently on the issue.

Residents and punong  barangays of Camp 7, Country Club Village, Greenwater, Happy Hallow, Hillside, Loakan-Apugan, Loakan-Liwanag, Loakan Proper, Lower Dagsian, Lucnab, Military Cut-Off, Sta. Escolastica Village and Upper Dagsian have protested the presence of the security personnel in their barangays which they said has caused undue fear among the residents.  A shooting incident even reportedly happened in one barangay involving the security personnel and a private citizen.

Aliping tackled the issue in his speech saying this has to be stopped for the sake of the residents.

He recommended that the body urge the JHMC to do the following: relieve the security personnel involved in the shooting incident involving a resident of one barangay; not to allow and tolerate the abuses of its security personnel; not to allow these guards from patrolling and roaming around the 13 barangays with their high-powered firearms in tow; and to ensure that proper coordination with the barangays shall be done first before any patrolling activities will be conducted in the said barangays.

In a letter to JHMC president and chief executive officer Dr. Jamie Eloise Agbayani dated June 4, the punong barangays of the 13 barangays asked Agbayani to stop their security guards from patrolling their barangays saying this has caused peace and order problems.

           

“We respectfully ask your good office to stop your security guards from patrolling or including our barangays as areas of jurisdiction.  We assure you that as we had been doing, we will do our best to maintain peace and order in our own barangays, report illegal constructions and cutting of trees,” they said.