Duterte safe, secure despite inclusion in NPA hit list -PSG chief

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is safe and secure, the chief of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) said Wednesday, after the Chief Executive was included in the hit list of the New People’s Army (NPA).

“We’ll do everything we can to secure the President,” Brig. General Jose Eriel Niembra, PSG Commander, said in a briefing in Malacañang.

Niembre issued the assurance after National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon revealed he and the President were included in the hit list of the communist group.

“In fact, we always say, the mission of the PSG is to see to it that we have a living president day by day,” he said.

The PSG chief said Duterte is in the hit list, not only of the NPA, but by drug lords and syndicate groups.

“We expect that the President is number one in their list (but) rest assured, we’re doing something to protect the President,” said Niembra.

But while the President’s inclusion in the hit-list was expected, he said they are taking it seriously.

“We take it seriously because it’s not a joking matter. It’s the life of the President and the survival of the country,” he said.