ZAMBOANGA CITY - Local government officials in Zamboanga City are in high hopes crimes will be resolved faster now that it has improved its Security Surveillance Command Center with new surveillance cameras provided by Huawei Philippines.

Foreign technical experts arrived in the city to train local personnel.

Jack Zhao, Huawei Philippines senior service manager, said at least 100 surveillance cameras in high-definition are powered with an artificial intelligence system that sends an alarm to the city's command center when a crime or a vehicular accident is captured on video.

"It is intelligent, can do face recognition, and has a capability for motion detection," he explained.

Cris Mandi, a security surveillance command officer, said the command center has contributed in solving crimes in the city in the few months since it was inaugurated.

A robbery in a local department store and a vehicular accident were quickly resolved with the help of the police.

Power supply in the city, however, may become a problem, which is why the cameras Huawei Philippines provided to the city have a five-year life cycle. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) were also provided to stabilize the power supply for the cameras as power fluctuations remain common in the city.

Allan Aizon, the city's department head for information technology, said the footage captured by the surveillance cameras will be used in the implementation of city ordinances.

The city officials welcomed Chinese experts' efforts to extend technical expertise to the command center's personnel following Huawei's dispute with the United States government on issues of spying.

The company said it remains a step ahead in providing products that will enable cities like Zamboanga City to enjoy technology and for security purposes.

The agreement with Huawei Philippines is part of the local contractor's scope of work amounting to at least P100 million, after it won the bid.