Vice President Sara Duterte’s “childish tantrums” over the recall of her 75-member police security detail was nothing but “theatrics” to hide the fact that she had more bodyguards than all former Vice Presidents combined, a Bulacan lawmaker said in a statement.
San Jose del Monte Rep. Rida Robes lambasted the Vice President after the latter lashed out at the Philippine National Police (PNP) for reducing her security detail.
“Truth is often surrounded by a bodyguard of lies, says a famous saying. In the case of the VP’s childish tantrums against the move to reduce, by little, her garrison of guards, she has muddled the issue, supplanting facts with theatrics,” Rep. Robes said.
“The truth is her security contingent dwarfs the number of policemen assigned to cities. The COA (Commission on Audit) says so in its latter report,” the lawmaker stressed.
In the COA’s 2022 annual audit report on the Office of the Vice President, about 433 security personnel were deployed only for Duterte, an increase of 455-percent from her predecessor’s security detail.
“What is also undeniable is that she has number of bodyguards more than all previous VPs of the land combined,” Rep. Robes said.
“Some VPs had a protective detail that can fit in van. Hers would need three Airbus planes filled to the rafters,” the lawmaker said.
Rep. Robes also questioned why the Vice President continues to insist on having a “layer and layer of security blanket, to move around surrounded by a phalanx of guards.”
“Volume is what distinguishes a protective detail from a private army, and her insistence to have a battalion of guards betrays her real motive,” the lawmaker said.
