With the 2010 elections just around the corner, the Philippine National Police (PNP) disclosed Monday that it has already started to take back at least half of the more than 1,300 policemen they recently deployed as security escorts of politicians and other Very Important Persons (VIPs).

Senior Supt. Juanito Vaño, deputy chief of the PNP-Police Security Protection Group (PSPG), said the move is to maximize police visibility and other anti-criminality campaigns of the PNP in preparation for the 2010 presidential elections.

“We are downloading some of our policemen serving as security escorts to bring them back to local police stations,” said Vaño.

PNP records revealed that a total of 1,379 policemen are deployed as escorts of VIPs and politicians and Vaño said they are eyeing to reduce the number to at least 700 by November this year.

Some 700 policemen are assigned to private individuals while more than 500 act as escorts of government officials, both elected and appointed.

But Vaño said the PNP will not abandon their task of providing security for threatened individuals and government officials, adding that there will still be policemen taking security escort jobs.

He said those stripped of some police security escorts could use private security agencies. He, however, warned them that the security agencies must be duly-accredited by the PNP.