PNP orders security agencies: Beef up holiday security
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has directed all security agencies to enforce stricter security measures in malls, hotels and other public places as the Christmas holiday nears.
This includes requiring some security personnel in civilian clothes to wear their prescribed uniforms at all times to deter criminals.
“[G]uards are now required to wear their prescribed uniforms in malls, hotels, and in other public convergence areas because some of those in the malls are wearing barong-type uniform,” Senior Superintendent Jose Mario Espino, director of PNP Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies (Sosia), said in an interview on Tuesday.
Espino explained this will help the public in identifying security members whom they can run to in case of an emergency.
“It will help the public know where to run in case of emergency. Unlike before, people thought those guards in barong tagalog were just ordinary employees. Kapag naka-uniform ‘yung guard talagang tatakbuhan siya (When a guard weras his uniform, people will run to him). At the same time, ‘yung guard duty niya tumulong (it’s the guard duty to help) in case of emergency,” he said.
“During this time, ‘ber’ months, we decided to suspend the special type of uniforms and we required them to wear the prescribed security guard uniform as a deterrent to would be perpetrators of theft, robbery and other untoward incidents,” Espino said.
PNP Sosia, which supervises all private security firms in the country, also encouraged mall security to coordinate with the police to set up assistance desks in their areas.
In September, the PNP started deploying armed police officers to roam and patrol inside malls./rga
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