The Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) was not disbanded but “reorganized” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), contrary to a report circulating online, a military official clarified on Saturday, April 5.
Col. Xerxes Trinidad, chief of AFP public affairs office, said the VPSPG was transformed into the AFP Security and Protection Group (AFPSPG) as part of the military’s “rationalization and streamlining efforts.”
Such efforts, he said, was implemented in February and approved by the Department of National Defense (DND).
“This administrative adjustment was undertaken to unify security and protection operations. It ensures the continued, uninterrupted, and robust protection of the Vice President within a more integrated and optimized framework,” he said.
The reorganized AFPSPG is tasked to provide security not only to the Vice President but other VIPs as approved by the DND.
The VPSPG was activated in June 2022 upon the assumption of Sara Duterte as the Vice President. Composed of security personnel from the AFP and Philippine National Police (PNP), it was tasked to provide security to the Vice President and his/her immediate family.
Prior to this, Vice Presidents were secured by the Security and Protection Battalion under the AFP General Headquarters and Headquarters Support Command, with no dedicated military security group.
“As such, the current set-up is a more efficient and effective way to ensure the safety and security of the present and future Vice Presidents,” Trinidad explained.
In November last year, AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. relieved all the military personnel assigned to the VPSPG following an incident involving the detention of Duterte’s chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez.
The PNP accused members of the VPSPG of assisting in the “forced transfer” of Lopez from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) to St. Luke's Medical Center using a private ambulance. To recall, Lopez was cited for contempt by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability amid an investigation into the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds by the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education.
She was initially ordered to serve a five-day detention at the Batasang Pambansa Complex until the Vice President stepped in and joined Lopez in her detention room.
The AFP appealed to the public to “avoid spreading false or misleading information.”
“We enjoin our kababayans to use our communications platforms to promote unity, peace and understanding, and not to sow discord, hatred and division,” Trinidad said.