EDITORIAL - Police bodyguards recalled… again

Amid reports of police officers serving as private bodyguards, the Philippine National Police has announced a recall of all PNP members assigned as security escorts of VIPs. The public, however, has heard similar orders in the past. Whether the order will be enforced this time remains to be seen.

PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said he ordered the recall after seeing in a hotel a Chinese man being escorted by a cop wearing the uniform of the Police Security and Protection Group.

The PSPG is the only PNP unit authorized to provide security to individuals, but the person must face a verified threat to his or her safety. The person must apply in writing for this special protection, explaining the reason for the request. The PNP then validates whether the threat is genuine and merits special police protection.

Claims of threats to personal safety, however, can be and has been exaggerated. Too many cops are assigned as the personal bodyguards of government officials including councilors and barangay captains, wealthy or influential private individuals, and anyone who can pay for special police protection including – as recent developments have shown – Chinese employees of Philippine offshore gaming operator firms. POGOs reportedly offer high pay to moonlighting cops and soldiers, who even serve as drivers of the Chinese employers.

The PNP should not stop at withdrawing the police bodyguards of civilian VIPs. It should review the deployment of police as personal security. The PNP’s mandate is to keep the general population safe in a country where one can be shot dead in a simple traffic altercation, or kidnapped for ransom by a gang that includes police and military officers.

Certain public officials deserve a contingent of police security escorts, including motorcycle cops: the top five officials of the land and a handful of others. The rest should recruit their own bodyguards and pay the salaries. The assignment of motorcycle police escorts in particular must be strictly limited, since the PNP lacks motorcycles and such cops must be patrolling the streets to protect the public instead of parting traffic for a handful of persons with a twisted sense of entitlement.