Palace calls for tighter security in all malls

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Wednesday called on the management and security agencies of shopping malls to be stricter in their enforcement of security measures.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda made the remarks after two shooting incidents in separate malls of the SM chain occurred in less than a week.

“We would like to request the security agencies of those malls and also the mall management that you put in securities in those malls to protect the safety of the public,” Lacierda said during a news briefing in Malacañang.

“We hope that your security agencies will be stricter in frisking bags and frisking the person’s belongings. It’s a concern for the public that we see security personnel frisking us and it turns out guns are still able to enter the mall premises,” he added.

Lacierda said malls may be privately owned but they are places frequented by the public “so we hope that they will be aware of the safety of the public patronizing the malls.”

“We allow ourselves to be frisked so there’s a certain expectation that your security level is high. It turns out it’s not,” Lacierda said.