Senate passes bill strengthening private security agencies

The Senate today passed on third and final reading a measure authored and sponsored by Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa seeking to strengthen the private security service industry and provide protection to the rights of those who belong to the industry.

With 21 senators voting in favor, zero against and no abstention, Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2423 or the Private Security Service Industry Act was approved on final reading, repealing the 52-year-old Republic Act (RA) No. 5487 or the Private Security Agency Law.

Dela Rosa, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said the measure aims to strengthen the regulation of the private security services industry making it responsive to the complexity and growth of the industry and the demands of global-certifying bodies.

The bill also aims to improve the protection of Filipino security guards by providing necessary training through the development of ladderized training and education, including basic security guard courses, specialized security guard courses, security officers training courses, detective training courses, and candidate protection agent courses.

Under the bill, private security professionals must be a Filipino citizen of legal age, physically and mentally fit, of good moral character and must not have been convicted of any crime for them to be granted the license to exercise private security profession (LESP) which will be valid for five years.

"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," Dela Rosa said.

Section 4 of SBN 2423 ensures that private security agencies shall be 100 percent-owned and controlled by Filipinos, provided that they shall not employ more than 2,000 private security professionals.

Any public security agency (PSA) or entity that operates without a valid license to operate (LTO) shall suffer the penalty of fine not less than P1 million and not more than P5 million, while there will be a fine ranging from P50,000 to P100,000 for PSAs or entities that will be proven operating with an expired LTO or any person practicing private security profession without a valid license or expired license.

"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 added.