Parañaque 2nd District Representative-elect Brian Raymund Yamsuan wants to make it mandatory for commercial establishments to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems in and around their premises in support of Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s heightened campaign against criminality.
Yamsuan said he would be refling a bill in the incoming 20th Congress that would require business establishments with 20 or more workers or those with transactions amounting to at least P50,000 a day to install CCTV cameras in all their entrances and exits, inside their workplaces, and other areas within their premises.
“The private sector can play a pivotal role in further strengthening the President’s intensified anti-crime campaign. Installing CCTVs in strategic locations in and around commercial establishments will help ensure public safety as these tools have been proven to be effective in deterring, detecting and solving crimes,” said Yamsuan, a former assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
He recalled that in 2014, and again in 2022, the DILG issued memorandum circulars encouraging cities and capital towns to require the installation of CCTVs for certain business establishments, such as banks, malls and other areas catering to large numbers of customers.
Yamsuan said he was glad to learn that when the DILG first issued the circular in 2014, his home city of Parañaque quickly complied by enacting City Ordinance 14-03, which mandates business establishments and private subdivisions to install CCTVs. A proof of compliance is required for the renewal of the Mayor’s Permit for establishments covered by the ordinance.
Among the proponents of the ordinance were then city councilors Tess de Asis and Binky Favis, who are both returning to their posts this year after winning in the 2025 elections under the Yamsuan-led Team Pagasa. The ordinance was approved by then Mayor Edwin Olivarez, the city’s current 1st District representative in the outgoing 19th Congress, who is also making a comeback starting July 1 as Parañaque’s chief executive.
Yamsuan said following Parañaque’s lead in mandating business establishments to install CCTV cameras would not only serve as a crime deterrent, but also help check abuses committed by law enforcers.
As member of the House Committee on Public Order and Safety in the 19th Congress, Yamsuan said there were instances when CCTV footage presented to the panel caught police officers committing irregularities in conducting drug buy-bust operations.
Yamsuan said that instead of individual local government units (LGUs) having to pass ordinances on a piecemeal basis, his proposed measure in the incoming Congress aims to pass a law that would cover all business establishments nationwide employing 20 or more workers or those with transactions amounting to at least P50,000 a day to install CCTV cameras in strategic areas within their premises.
The establishments covered by Yamsuan’s proposal include, but are not limited to: restaurants, hospitals, malls, shopping centers, movie houses, theaters, supermarkets, groceries, entertainment centers, office buildings, warehouses, and cockpit arenas.
These and other similar establishments are required under the bill to maintain their CCTV cameras in good working condition, and ensure such devices are turned on and recording 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Yamsuan said.
Yamsuan said his proposed legislation will also include provisions on data privacy and confidentiality, and penalties for non-compliance.
