CEBU City will develop its own sea surveillance system for rescue and relief operations, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said Thursday.

Osmeña said the system will employ Bantay Dagat personnel that will employ thermal detection technology to track persons or objects deep in the waters.

“There’s a new technology on that (thermal detecting) then we will have (that will employ this technology,” the mayor said. Osmeña said they will focus on finding survivors of maritime disasters rather than deal with external security threats.

“There are ships that sink right here and people drowned and no one knows how to find them. If you’re still alive, your body heat is not the same temperature with the water, you will be detected. We would presume that it’s a survivor trying to stay alive. We will go directly to that even in the middle of the night,” Osmeña said.

The mayor said their sea surveillance system may coordinate with the Visayan Sea Security Task Force comprised of the military, police, Coast Guard and other government agencies.

“If it’s good we will help. The criteria should not be personalized. What is good for Cebu is good for Cebu,” Osmeña said./USJ-R Intern Rosalie O. Abatayo