PNP CHIEF Lt. Gen. Dionardo Carlos yesterday said he has ordered police regional directors to review the deployment of policemen as politicians’ bodyguards to determine if these are authorized and according to regulations.
“That’s what I told them, let us observe the process. We have yet to strip politicians (of PNP security personnel). What we are doing is we reviewing if they are authorized (to maintain police security personnel),” he said in a briefing in Camp Crame.
“If it’s authorized, then stay. If not, then we will make them comply with the requirements on the deployment of police bodyguards,” added Carlos, without directly saying if policemen illegally assigned to politicians will be recalled pending compliance to procedures.
Carlos said politicians who are not qualified to be given bodyguards may get the service of private security agencies.
Carlos could not immediately give figures as to the number of policemen currently assigned to politicians.
“We are reviewing the authority (in the assignment of PNP body guards), we will start from that. Probably by the end of this week, we will have already the figures,” he said.
Carlos said the PNP wants its policemen to focus on security polling places and other similar election-related operations, noting that “we want to deliver a good result, a peaceful election come 2022.”
Carlos also said the PNP is adopting measures to ensure that policemen assigned to politicians will remain non-partisan, neutral and professional during the elections.
He said policemen assigned as bodyguards of policemen should not be in civilian clothes while performing official duty.
“If they are detailed as police bodyguards, (they should be) in complete proper and proper PNP uniform so we can easily identify them. We are not going to deploy them in civilian clothes,” he said.
