The Senate on Monday, May 23 approved on third and final reading, Senate Bill No. 2423 or the proposed Private Security Services Industry Act which seeks to strengthen the regulation of the private security services industry and improve the protection of Filipino security guards.

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, sponsor of the measure, thanked his colleagues for their contribution to the refinement of the bill which seeks to repeal the 52- year-old Republic Act (RA) 5487 or the "The Private Security Agency Law.”

“I am glad that my fellow members of the Senate were able to see what I intended to show: that the urgency of this bill is not to be found on the surface. Instead, its urgency lies in the almost unseen, seldom appreciated actions of its stakeholders—our security officers, our security guards, all of our security professionals,” he said.

“By saying yes to this measure, we are giving the industry the legislative support which has been lacking all this time, when it was relying on a law that was 52 years old,” he added.

“It is my fervent hope and I believe it is also the hope of this body that through this measure, the private security services industry shall flourish even further, along with the success of every individual security professional,” Dela Rosa said.

During the interpellation of the bill, Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, had earlier assured Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and other senators that the bill will ensure that private security agencies shall still be 100 percent Filipino-owned as a safeguard to Philippine national security.

Dela Rosa reiterated the need, not only to improve the private security industry, but also protect the needs of Filipino security guards.

“A security guard, like all other security providers, is a professional, and must be treated as such,” Dela Rosa said.

“They are not only the first line of defense of workers and employees against possible lawless elements but have also evolved into a support system in our country’s fight against Covid-19,” he said.

“Security guards prevent not only intrusion by unauthorized persons but also the spread of the deadly virus. They are our valiant gatekeepers. This legislative measure is about them,” the senator stressed.