Protect my family, VP Sara asks volunteer security

(UPDATES) VICE President Sara Duterte on Tuesday asked that her family be protected, telling those who wanted to help with her security need not worry about her.

Duterte's statement came after Sen. Ronald de la Rosa asked former soldiers or ex-police officers in a Facebook post to volunteer to provide security to the vice president after the Philippine National Police (PNP) reassigned the 75 policemen assigned to her security detail.

«Do not worry about me,» Duterte said in Filipino in a Tuesday statement thanking de la Rosa and the people who had responded to him.

Vice President Sara Duterte

She also said that people do not need to donate for her security.

«I ask only one thing from you — the safety of my family,» she said in Filipino. «Do not allow any violence against my mother, husband and four children, whether in person or on the internet. And if ever, do not let anyone who will do them harm get away.»

In an open letter to PNP chief Rommel Marbil on Monday, July 29, Duterte denounced the pullout of her security detail as «political harassment.»

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But Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua saw no politics in the move.

«First of all, we should respect the decision of the PNP because it is them who knows where our policemen should be assigned,» Chua said in Filipino in a press conference at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

«I do not see politicking,» he said. «The PNP is just doing its job.»

Meanwhile, the Presidential Security Command (PSC) reiterated its readiness and commitment to protect Duterte, the second-highest elected official of the land.

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Formerly known as the Presidential Security Group (PSG), the PSC is an elite unit of personnel from different branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) responsible for ensuring the security and protection of Philippine presidents and their immediate families.

It was recently reorganized to include the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) as a sub-unit.

«The PSC will continue to be a professional and mission-oriented Armed Forces of the Philippines unit,» Morales said in a text message to reporters.

«We are fully committed to accomplishing our new task of