Palace to double PSG detail for Pope Francis

Pope Francis will be secured by twice the number of Presidential Security Group personnel that usually guards President Benigno Aquino III, Malacañang said on Monday.

Secretary Edwin Lacierda, Aquino's spokesperson, said the Palace was concerned that the Pope would be riding a car that wasn't bullet-proof.

“Concern din natin na wala siyang (armored) Pope mobile. Pero nasabi na rin ni Presidente twice the number of PSG that secures him (will be given to Pope Francis)," Lacierda said in a news briefing.

"We are doing everything we can to secure the Pope,” he added.

 

Aside from securing the President, the PSG also provides protection for visiting heads of state.

Pope Francis, aside from being the head of the Roman Catholic Church, is a head of state being the leader of the Vatican City, the smallest internationally-recognized independent state in the world.

 

Lacierda said the government was also concerned with the security of the people who would be in the activities during the Papal visit.

 

“We are doing everything humanly possible to secure the safety of the Pope and to ensure the safety, also, of the crowd. Because it’s not just the Pope that we’re concern with the safety, it’s also the crowd itself. Ang importante kasi ‘yung kaligtasan din ng marami,” he said.

 

Lacierda said the government was closely coordinating with the Catholic church to ensure the smooth flow of events.

 

“The weekly press briefings of the joint government with Secretary (Herminio) Coloma and Archbishop Soc (Villegas)--that’s the coordination we are doing to ensure that everything, all the activities of the Pope, from the time that he arrives up to the time he departs, will be coordinated properly,” he said.

 

Pope Francis will arrive in the country on the afternoon of January 15, Thursday. He will pay a courtesy call to President Aquino on Friday morning and will meet with families in the afternoon. He will visit typhoon-stricken provinces and have lunch with the poor and survivors on January 17, and will meet with religious leaders and young people on January 18. He will leave the Philippines on January 19, Monday.