DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao City is moving towards using 150 AI-powered CCTV’s to be installed at the city’s borders and public areas as part of enhancing the city’s security measures.
Last Tuesday, November 25, the City Council passed the AI-Powered Border and Public Safety Ordinance, authored by Councilor Bonz Andrei Militar.
The ordinance approves facial recognition technology to be installed in the city’s border and surveillance system, aiming to strengthen the monitoring and identification capabilities of the city government.
Militar assured that data privacy of individuals will not be used, as the facial recognition system will identify three types of persons: those who are reported missing, those who are placed on the wanted list and/or terror list.
“In AI facial recognition, (this will not include data gathering of individuals), only the data provided by PNP, Task Force and other concerned agencies. For example, wanted terrorists, missing, (these will be the ones registered in our system). In terms of data privacy (we will not extract data from individuals),” Militar explained.
To ensure its accuracy, Militar said the data will be provided by the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), Task Force Davao (TFD), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), National Bureau of Investigation Region XI (NBI-XI), Bureau of Immigration Region XI (BI-XI), Philippine Coast Guard–Davao Station (PCG-Davao), Bureau of Customs Region XI (BOC-XI), Philippine Ports Authority Region XI (PPA-XI), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region XI (PDEA-XI), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region XI (CIDG-XI), and other concerned agencies under a data-sharing agreement for real-time access to updated watchlists and criminal databases, subject to strict confidentiality and purpose limitations.
The facial recognition cameras will be installed at “all critical access points” of the city, including government buildings such as the city hall, Sangguniang Panlungsod, and Hall of Justice; major parks (People’s Park, Magsaysay Park, Coastal Rak); transport terminals (Davao International Airport, Old Sasa Airport); water or port transport terminals (Sasa Mini Pier (Km. 11), Davao Fishport Complex (Toril Fish Port), Sta. Ana Wharf, Philippine Ports Authority, DAVSAM Wharf, MaeWess Wharf); and land transport terminals (Davao City Overland Transport Terminal bus stops identified by the Davao Bus System, private van terminals).
To implement this, the City Government will allocate P14 million for the 150 new closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Militar said that after the passage of the ordinance, they are now preparing for the bidding and procurement of these cameras until early next year.
Colonl Mannan Caracas Muarip, Acting City Director of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), lauded the passage of the ordinance, saying that the security sector supports the move to use facial recognition, as it will aid in future operations to control entry points in public places within the city.
Davao City has implemented its Culture of Security framework in the middle of the Covid pandemic, which enforces coordination between state security and citizens in combating threats to the city’s peace and order.(davaotoday.com)
