Themed costumes for security guards banned

The Philippine National Police on Thursday warned mall managers and owners of security agencies that wearing of themed costumes by security guards is prohibited amid the holiday season.

PNP Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies chief Brig. Gen. Gregory Bogñabal also urged the security agencies, malls and business establishments to strictly require proper wearing of prescribed uniforms among security agencies and security guards across the country.

Bogñabal said one of the hazards of changing the uniform of a security officer is that criminals can use this to disguise themselves and carry out their illegal activities.

"When we say proper uniform, we mean the standard uniform of a guard; nothing more, nothing less," Bogñabal said. "It would also be hard for us to quickly identify who the guards are because they don't have a nameplate or ID."

"So that's why we discourage using that type of uniform aside from the mandated standard uniform so that us, not only the supervisor or the PNP who monitors but also the civilians would know who the guards are because you see their typical guard uniform because that is what they usually wear together with an ID," he added.

He added that in case of emergencies, the response of security guards might be restricted or limited because they cannot be easily identified.

Under Section 14 of Republic Act 5487 or the Private Security Agency Law, the "Chief of the Philippine Constabulary (now the PNP), through his duly authorized representative, shall prescribe the uniform or ornaments, equipment and paraphernalia to be worn by the security guards and watchmen throughout the Philippines."

Meantime, SOSIA enforcement management division chief Col. Merquiodi Bodanio warned that security guard officers caught wearing themed costumes will be fined with P500 to P1,000 while for the security agencies will be fined P10,000 for the first offense and P20,000 for the second offense.

Aside from the fines for each security guard, the agency handling them will also be fined and will be subject to administrative investigation and they will also be at risk of having its permit to operate canceled in case of repeated violations.

Bogñabal, on the other hand, said that security guards should only focus to their job to provide security not as parking attendant, checker as they will not be able to perform their jobs.

The PNP-SOSIA chief explained that security guard's basic function is to patrol their specific areas, to report all unusual incidents and events, control the entry and exits of their guests, as well the vehicles, facilitate the systematic traffic flow of their area of responsibility, also assist the public who need assistance within their area of responsibility and to report to the police any incidents related to crime or other occurrences and must remember that security guards are force multipliers.