Only 30 percent of Dagupan City's CCTV cameras are working, according to Mayor Belen Fernandez, leaving the majority of the city's surveillance system non-operational despite full payment for the project.

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) units, intended to improve safety across 31 barangays, were part of a ₱15 million project completed in April 2022.

“Thirty percent lang ang umaandar but it was fully paid,” Fernandez said.

In Barangay Tapuac alone, just 11 out of 16 installed units are currently functional.

“Yung iba, may kalumaan na. Wirings, naputol na rin,” Barangay Chairman Sidney Lomboy said.

Lomboy cited aging equipment and damaged wiring are behind the failures.

A total of over 300 CCTV units were distributed citywide under the Public Alert Response and Monitoring Center (PARMC), but the monitoring center itself remains closed.

According to PARMC officials, the Commission on Audit (COA) has already conducted an inspection to investigate the situation.

“Based on the recommendation of COA, doon din ibabase kung anong magiging aksyon towards that project,” Melykhen Bauzon, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and PARMC, said.

Only 36 CCTV cameras in the city proper are reportedly operational, according to PARMC.

The supplier of the CCTV equipment is yet to issue a statement, as of this writing.