Livelihood eyed for tanods who secure night workers

A safer, peaceful and more orderly Cebu City, especially for those working late at night, is what Mayor Tomas Osmeña wishes for this Christmas.

Osmeña lamented, though, that the City Government can’t rely solely on the police to make it happen.

Because of this, the mayor said the City, in partnership with Smart Communications, will soon launch an outpost-reloading booth near the GAGFA Tower on F. Cabahug St. in Barangay Mabolo, where several business process outsourcing (BPO) firms like Sykes operate.

The project, Osmeña said, is a new safety program for people who withdraw their salaries from automated teller machines (ATM) late at night.

The initial plan for the outpost, which will be built on the sidewalk near the ATM, is to have it manned by four newly hired uniformed tanods who will undergo training.

“This is legalized sidewalk vending. This is a good oppor- tunity for them to get to know the people who work in Sykes and vice versa. This will create another barrier to make it difficult for robberies,” Osmeña said in his news conference last Friday, Dec. 21.

Aside from ensuring peace and order in the area, the tanods will also have a livelihood through selling prepaid cellphone load.

The project will be undertaken at no cost to the City Government since Smart will shoulder the cost of constructing the outpost.

Although he has yet to discuss the matter with the owners of Sykes, Osmeña believes that the BPO will not object to the proposal.

“My idea is to establish a strong security system. We might use retired policemen, military men...whatever works, we might use martial arts clubs,” he said.

If everything goes as planned, the mayor said the program may be expanded to Osmeña Blvd.

“We are looking forward to facing the challenges with our very strong resolve, even though many of these things are beyond our control. We have peace and order problem pero di ta makasalig sa police, but we are doing things and making that a very high priority. Were trying to make it safe this Christmas, so what are we doing is try to improve the peace and order situation,” he said.