Protection only for VIPs

Like food, shelter, roads and school facilities, the number of cops has failed to grow commensurately with the country’s ballooning population. The Philippine National Police, under fire for a spate of sensational crimes in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, pointed out that 50,000 more cops are needed to come close to the ideal ratio of one police officer for every 500 population.

Although the PNP constantly hires new recruits, the organization also loses personnel every year through mandatory retirement, resignation, and dismissal for various offenses. PNP officials said the number of police personnel has not increased since 1986. About 140,000 PNP personnel are tasked to keep nearly 100 million Filipinos safe. Even if an estimated 10 million are overseas, the current police-population ratio is still far from ideal.

Officials said 6,000 new recruits are joining the PNP next month. It would improve the ratio if none of those 6,000 will do bodyguard duty for VIPs. The PNP is tasked to keep the entire population safe, and not just a handful of public officials. Cabinet members and politicians who like moving around with a coterie of bodyguards in tow survive without security escorts when they leave office. Several murders in recent years have shown that a bodyguard – or an AK-47 for that matter – is no protection from a determined assassin.

Cops are assigned as bodyguards even of well-connected private citizens. Why should a few Filipinos enjoy more protection than the rest? Only a handful of top public officials, plus individuals who face genuine threats and are under the Witness Protection Program, are entitled to security escorts. The president of the republic deserves them; his advisers do not.

There have been numerous attempts in the past years to limit the number of police and military personnel assigned to bodyguard duty. All the efforts were soon reversed, as politicians – plus their wives, children, mistresses and cronies – raised howls of protest. President Aquino, who on the first day of his administration banned all civilians from using sirens and blinkers, should see this as another manifestation of the wang-wang mentality that must be curbed. He can start by making his Cabinet members and advisers set the example.