Vice President Sara Duterte is planning to hire her own private security after the government pulled out security personnel assigned to her.

Doing so will not be construed as hiring a private army, Duterte said in a press conference Wednesday, Dec. 11, as her security will not possess firearms.
Duterte said she already told her plans to her husband, who will make the arrangements.
The money needed might be taken out of their own pockets, she said. Regarding the amount she needs, she said, she does not know yet as they have not received any proposal from a service provider yet.
“I will seek security arrangements outside of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) already… We are exploring private security services,” she said.
“There are professional security services. So that's not considered as a private army. And I do not know if these individuals are allowed to bring guns, so that makes them less of an army,” Duterte added.
In July, Duterte said 75 personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) in her security detail that is composed of more than 400 men were pulled out. The remaining ones are from the AFP.
But not all of them are assigned for her personal security but on administrative tasks and others.
Duterte said she also wrote a letter to AFP chief Romeo Brawner not to replace with military personnel those who were pulled out.
“I don’t trust anyone right now except myself,” she added.