Security

The arrest of several persons trying to spirit away a good number of guns and ammunition on board a government vehicle at the Port of Cebu should serve as an eye-opener about the laxity of security measures in place there. Had it not been for a timely tip to the police, the smuggled guns would have made it to their destination.

The guns, ammunition, and the persons transporting them were on board a school bus owned by a certain municipality in Samar. The vehicle was to be transported by ship to Ormoc in Leyte, from where the bus would have gone scot-free by land with its illegal cargo to Tacloban, crossing the San Juanico Bridge to Samar, and on to where the guns and ammo were headed.

The apprehension was an eye-opener because there are virtually no security measures inside the Port of Cebu. What semblance of security there is is provided only by private security guards who perform only perfunctory checks on vehicles at the gates, such as whether they have paid the entry fees or, if for shipment, have the proper bills of lading.

Other than that, everyone and everything can come and go at the Cebu Port. I know because I am a frequent traveler by sea. Perhaps this laxity of security stems from an over-reliance on the X-ray machines and body scanners that are in fact in place at the terminals.

But as the seizure of the guns and ammo and the arrest of the people bringing them would show, it is far easier to transport illegal items on board rolling cargo, as what vehicles meant for shipment are called, than to carry them in person. Had it not been for the timely tip, nobody would have had any inkling that anything was amiss.

I have on many occasions brought along my car on trips by ship. But as mentioned earlier, all that the private security guards manning the gates would do is check if I have any shipment papers. I do not even know if the guards actually read them. In all likelihood, they just look at the date so that in no more than 10 seconds I am waved off promptly inside.

There are never any checks made to see if I am carrying anything illegal or dangerous. Of course it is a delight not to be held up and delayed. But the consequences of an irresponsible trade-off can be terrible and in the end I would rather be late than sorry.

There should be real and appropriately trained security officers placed at the port gates. They could be the police or the military. But they have to be the real guys, not just checkers of papers. And to avoid a bottleneck at already traffic-prone port gates, dedicated lanes should be made for rolling cargo and for vehicles just dropping off or picking up passengers.

‘The apprehension was an eye-opener because there are virtually no security measures

inside the Port of Cebu.’