Disparity in number of bodyguards

From my ROTC days, I learned that a squad of soldiers was composed of 9-12 men and a platoon consisted of at least three to four squads or some 36 to 48 men. Three platoons made up a company and three companies, at least, comprised a brigade. If we spoke about the strength of a brigade in my college years, half a century ago, there were an average total of 432 warm bodies.

Since my data is 50 years old, I tried researching for the present figures. I found out from the internet that the numbers have not changed much. Accordingly, “three or four squads make up a platoon, which has 20 to 50 soldiers and xx two or more platoons make up a company, which has 100 to 250 soldiers xxx”. The net further showed that “a battalion is typically consisting of 300 to 1,000 soldiers”. Such fresh information provided by the internet made my ROTC observation alarmingly relevant vis-a-vis a reportorial of a present-day event.

Few days ago, I read from the newspapers that the Office of the Vice President is organizing its own security group. Apparently, this is different from the Presidential Security Group. This must be a new idea because when I served as a director for Legal Affairs in Malacañang, I knew that a unit of the PSG (and not a separate organization) was assigned to secure the vice president, then.

The reports also mentioned that this new separate unit organized for the security of Vice President Sara Duterte Carpio is composed of 433 warm bodies or as big as a battalion of warriors. Such proposal attracted national attention. In fact, following the reports, opinion makers quickly tried to compare this number with the 72 personnel securing then Vice President Leni Robredo. They pointed out the glaring disparity; 72 versus 433!

It is possible that there is more threat to Vice President Carpio than there was against Atty. Leni Robredo? That should explain the need for so many bodyguards. For purposes of added comparison, let us understand that the “Pontifical Guards” comprising only of 135 men serve as the private bodyguards of the Pope. Only 135 guard the Pope but 433 secure the Philippine vice president!

What about the British Royal Family? There are up to 185 SAS-trained officers (the exact number is not revealed for security reasons) that guard the British monarchy. Only the most high-profile royals have around-the-clock protection including King Charles, Prince William, and the Cambridge Family. Our vice president must be more important than the British royals that she needs 433 men while King Charles, et al, have to be guarded by 185 security people!

Candidly speaking, it is not the huge number of security personnel for our beloved vice president that gets my goat. It is the insensitive manner that  Carpio and some of our lawmakers displayed when that item came up in the budget hearing. The television footage of that session showed Senator Imee Marcos wanting an explanation of a proposed allocation for 433 vice presidential security personnel. But what did I see? Marcos was mocking in a supposedly serious question-and-answer scene. Worse, when the vice president was queried, she started her answer with such a fumble, hidden behind a sarcastic smile, that she eventually referred the question to an underling. That the subaltern was totally unprepared and did not know how to answer demonstrated the contempt of the OVP for the Senate which Sen. Marcos tolerated. Aguroy!