Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group is under the PSC -PSC chief

The Presidential Security Command clarified that the Vice Presidential  Security and Protection Group has been reworked into their command.

In a statement on Tuesday, PSC chief Major General Nelson Morales explained that the PSC, previously known as the Presidential Security Group, had been reorganized into a command that also controlled the VPSPG.

“The PSC remains to be a professional and mission-oriented AFP  unit committed to accomplishing its new task of securing the Vice President,” said Morales.

“We will accomplish that mission,” he added.

On July 23, Vice President Sara Duterte confirmed that 75 members of the  Philippine National Police had been removed from her security group as per PNP Chief Police General Rommel Marbil’s order on July 22.

Marbil confirmed the report, adding that the Vice President’s security detail was under the PSC and not the PNP.

On Monday, Duterte said that the Vice Presidential Protection Division  (VPPD) was created by the National Police Commission for the security of the country’s vice presidents.

She called the withdrawal of the 75 police officers “political harassment” and “a targeted list and a targeted maneuver” as the removed policemen were part of her father’s former security detail,  and the decision posed a threat to her family’s security.

“Sinabihan lamang ng [Police Security and Protection Group] ang [Office of the Vice President] na kukunin nila ang mga personnel. Hindi na kami nakipagtalo dahil ikaw naman ang batas, 'di ba? Kasunod nito ay lumabas  na ang Relief Orders sa utos mo. Ito ay base na rin sa dokumento ng  PNP,” Duterte said.

(The PSPG only told the OVP that they would take the personnel. We didn't argue because you are the law,  right? After which, the Relief Orders were released by your command.  This was also based on a PNP document.)

The VPSPG was activated by the Armed Forces of the  Philippines in June 2022 to “ensure the safety and security of the vice president's family”.

In a statement, Duterte thanked the AFP for creating “a security unit separate from the Presidential Security Group.”

"This AFP initiative also highlights the importance of having an independent group that will provide all Philippine vice presidents with the necessary security and protection," Duterte said.

"That  foresight demonstrated in this activation was likewise highly laudable — that it may be expected to solve the challenges if, in future  elections, the vice president and the president face the misfortune of  having strained relations." She added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News