VP security group not new, just renamed – AFP

MANILA, Philippines — The Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) activated last week ahead of and in time for vice president-elect Sara Duterte’s official assumption to office on June 30 is not really a new unit, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) clarified yesterday.

AFP Public Affairs Office chief Col. Jorry Baclor explained that the newly activated detachment is simply an improved version of the vice presidential security protection detail of vice presidents since the time of the late former vice president Salvador “Doy” Laurel.

“It has been there for the vice president and it was only (renamed and) expanded and approved by the Department of National Defense (DND), hence a formal ceremony,” he told The STAR.

The military also clarified that the VPSPG and its predecessor, the Vice Presidential Security Detachment, was never part of or under the Presidential Security Group (PSG).

Because Sara Duterte is still currently a presidential daughter and is thus being protected by the PSG, the AFP said it could easily be construed as giving the vice president-elect a new security group.

In an official announcement last Saturday, the AFP announced the DND’s approval of the activation of the VPSPG with Lt. Col. Rene Giroy as its first group commander.

Baclor described the unit as a dedicated group that will ensure the safety and security of the vice president of the Philippines and her family.

AFP chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino himself led the activation of the VPSPG at Camp Aguinaldo last Friday and noted that the military “saw it fitting to provide the Office of the Vice President a dedicated unit that shall ensure the safety and security of the second-highest elected official in the country.”