$array = ['country_id' => $postData['country_id']];$cities = $this->CitiesModel->where($array)->orderBy('id', 'asc')->findAll();if($cities){// OK} else {// No results found}
if (isset($$cities)) { // ok} else { // no data returned}
$result = $cities ?? null; if($result){ ... result found }else{ . ..result not found }