Military personnel back to help secure Senate
MANILA, Philippines— Military personnel are back in the Senate to augment its security.
But the changing of the guard in the upper chamber has nothing to do with any of the controversial issues being investigated in the Senate, its sergeant-at-arms, Roberto Ancan, quickly clarified on Thursday.
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero himself confirmed the change in the Senate security.
Asked if there was a specific threat against the Senate that prompted the move, Escudero said: “None that I am privy with.”
“It was originally the Marines that secured both the House and Senate grounds before. Just restored it,” he explained in a Viber message.
Article continues after this advertisementIn an interview at the Senate, Ancan said the Senate simply reduced the number of police personnel, who would now be focusing on police matters outside the premises of the chamber.
Article continues after this advertisement“Then the instruction of the Senate president to me is to return to how it was before since it was the marines who were securing the Senate before,” he said in Filipino.
Ancan stressed that there was no threat against the Senate, reiterating that they are just returning to the chamber’s old security arrangements.
“No, no. There is no threat to the Senate,” he said.
While the police unit will focus on police matters, Ancan said his office would continue to provide security within the Senate premises.
The security unit from the Philippine Marines, on the other hand, will be stationed at the gate, parking area, and lobby of the Senate building.
Incidentally, a detention facility where Shiela Guo is held is near the Senate parking lot.
She was previously tagged as the sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (Guo Hua Ping), who is being investigated by the Senate committee on women over her alleged ties to Philippine offshore gaming operators.
The same committee headed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros is expected to invite Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder and leader Apollo Quiboloy to personally answer the charges leveled against him, including qualified human trafficking and sexual abuse.
