Mikey wants to extend renewal period for guards' licenses

MANILA, Philippines - Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo said yesterday he will file a measure in Congress to extend the effectivity of security guards’ licenses from two years to three years.

“If driver’s licenses have a three-year effectivity, why not security guards?” he said.

Arroyo said the current renewal period for the license is disadvantageous to security guards, who, “before their licenses expire, have to renew them with the respective regional offices of the Security Agencies and Guard Supervision Division (SAGSD) of the Civil Security Group under the PNP covering their areas. And to renew their licenses, they have to undergo one month retraining under their respective provincial offices of the PNP, renew all their clearances – police, NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), court, etc.”

He said while the guards are in retraining, “they would be on a floating status, which means they would not be receiving any salary from their agencies while they have to shoulder all the expenses for their retraining program and the renewal of their clearances.”

Arroyo said the issue was raised during his meeting with a group of security guards who came all the way from Davao City just to have a dialogue with him.

He said by extending the effectivity date of their licenses, security guards would be given additional time to save money from their salaries, which they could use during their retraining program and renewal of their clearances for the renewal of their licenses.

He said while he does not see any problem with the security guards undergoing retraining from time to time, he said the program could be shortened. He said the security guards undergoing retraining for one month would not be receiving salaries and they have families relying on their wages.

Arroyo said he would hold dialogues with officials of the SAGSD and other concerned agencies regarding the review of the retraining program for security guards.