Bodyguards/PSGs: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Crisologo, Allyanna

Garrido, Miko

Membrere, Bren

Oquendo, Noel

Uy, Kim

Yanela, Roy
SA 21 - B

Bodyguards/PSGs: The Ultimate Sacrifice

1. Who is the identity you want to imitate? Why did you choose this identity?

In our deviance activity, we imitated several identities such as a personal assistant and a “conyo and maarte” boss however, the identity we chose to highlight is the Presidential Security Group or most commonly known as “PSGs”. If we look at it in a general sense, the identity we imitated during the deviance day activity was the bodyguards. First and foremost, we chose and decided this identity because we thought that it will have an impact when we act as bodyguards during deviance day in school. It was important for us to know the context of the activity (i.e. where are we going to do it? Who will see us?) such that it will be something believable rather than something that is impossible to believe that such identity exists in school. (i.e superheroes)

Another basis of choosing this identity is out of curiosity. On the one hand, in an outside setting, there are people, mostly government officials such as the President that have bodyguards (PSGs) along with them. On the other hand, in the school setting, we see a lot of guards stationed in different parts of the campus for the security of the students. However, when we look at them, what they simply do is follow wherever their “boss” goes or in the case of the guards in campus, they just stay put in their post and guard the area that they cover. With this, we wanted to see and experience what it is like to be a guard, bodyguard or a PSG even just for a day - to experience how they work, what they do, even what they sacrifice just to be able to protect the students or in a PSG’s case, the president.

During the deviance day activity, four members of the group acted as bodyguards while the other two acted as the “boss” and the personal assistant. Thus, for this activity, we wanted to experience a day of protecting the boss and attending to her needs as a bodyguard and a personal assistant; which is what they do.

2. What is your identity’s main function in the society?

Our identity’s main function in society is pretty straightforward. Its role involves protecting and attending to the needs of wealthy people, political figures, celebrities, visiting dignitaries and other professionals. They do this through staying close with their clients, observing bystanders and keeping people away at a safe distance. However, they do not simply protect whomever they are working for but they also accompany clients to public events, identify possible dangers, perform security checks and plan escape routes. Bodyguards need to be able to react quickly and efficiently in emergency situations, and be able to make on-the-spot decisions about changes in plans. They must also have good communication, planning and problem solving skills to ensure the safety of their employers. In addition, here in the Philippines, when in need they give a hand or support to government agencies such as AFP and PNP in its anti-organized crime undertaking.

Truly, these bodyguards do not only hold a huge responsibility but they are also at a very crucial job especially if there is a [death] threat given to their bosses. Consequently, by protecting their boss, they are also sacrificing their life for them. Thus, in the PSG website, a quote stated is “the ultimate sacrifice”.

3. How does he/she look like?

During deviance day, the bodyguards/PSGs dressed up in accordance to what guards or bodyguards wear when we see them in campus, in malls, etc. Some bodyguards however, disguise themselves as normal people who just follows their boss around at a distance. But to increase the impact that our deviance activity could bring, the members of the group decided to dress up in a white long sleeved polo and black pants with matching sunglasses. Other props that we used during activity which are also used by bodyguards in an actual setting are umbrellas.

Through our observations in school and one of our group members’ interview with a bodyguard, it was observed that bodyguards and other security personnels generally are distinguished in a crowd because of their appearance except those in civilian disguise. They are required to wear uniforms oftentimes, white top and black pants. They also have different devices and equipments such as walkie talkies in order to communicate with other security officers within the vicinity. Some even use communicators. What would definitely identify them would be the firearms they carry since protecting people is their primary duty. Regarding their appearance, they are expected to look presentable and maintain neat front. Preferably muscular and physically fit, they are also expected to look strong. One thing that we have observed regarding the hairstyle of bodyguards is that most of them are either bald or a buzz cut. However, according to one of our sources (CSS), it is already enough to have a haircut that is evenly trimmed. Clean and trimmed fingernails should also be observed to further emphasize the clean look. Furthermore, mustaches should also be evenly trimmed and sideburns are not to extend below the top of the ear canal or forward past a vertical line extending 1 inch backward from the outer corner of the eye.

However, also through our research, we have realized that although how the bodyguards dressed up during our deviance activity was based on a stereotype, this is not always the case in reality. With some clients, it’s a personal preference that dictates the appearance of their bodyguards. Usually, their appearance more specifically, their clothing might also have to depend on the situation. In addition, despite the common image of a bodyguard being a huge, bulky, silent figure, in reality most bodyguards are average-looking people. A bodyguard must still be physically fit, however, and able to defend himself and his client during a crisis.

In totality, the overall appearance of a security personnel may represent stability and order. Moreover, their presence incite peace within the area. Just seeing the described appearance, people tend to respond by behaving properly or showing respect to an authority figure.

4. How does he/she speak or behave?

• How do they talk to people? How do they laugh?
• When they talk to people, they are usually straightforward. Most of the time, they only make small conversations with people especially when they’re boss is around as this may distract them; they also don’t laugh much when they’re on duty. They of course, talk to their bosses also in a minimal way: “Yes, Maam. No, Maam.” unless they are asked questions.
• Any jokes that they know?
• While on their job, they are serious. But there’s always something soft inside of them. For example, guards in school: they say hi to us, smile and even engage in conversation. However, we think in the case of bodyguards they are more on the serious side whenever they’re with their “boss”, but whenever they’re on a break, they

5. What are their beliefs in life? What are their values?

In terms of religion, most of the PSGs in the Philippines are believed to be  Catholics, that also share the same beliefs as us. They also believe in a God in which they act accordingly to.

In  an interview conducted with a bodyguard from Cebu, the values that are important to them is responsibility, safety and hard work. For him, he admits that being a bodyguard is not easy especially since he is serving someone who has death threats in Cebu. Although there are times where he is sleep deprived and tired, he does not think about this since his family is depending on him and what he earns. True enough, some individuals work as PSGs because it pays pretty high and it would allow them to support their family and give them a better life. Thus, for Kuya Ronald, hard work is an important value as it does not only allow him to perform his job well but it allows him to support his family. Safety is also something that is important to him as this is what his job description pertains to which is to protect and ensure the safety of their employers. Lastly, responsibility is another important value for Kuya Roland. He says that he has to be responsible with his actions as he also carries a huge responsibility as a bodyguard.

6. How does his/her day look like?

Through observing the guards around campus and those bodyguards in malls, their job seems simple and monotonous. After performing their job, however, we found out that they go through a lot: the heat, the threat, the pressure, among others. We see that his day is all about following their bosses around to ensure that they are protected and safe. However, like what the members experienced, it is very tiring to be a bodyguard at least for us, because we need to carry a lot of things while working under the sun. Also after the activity, we could just imagine what these bodyguards go through in a day. As they wake up, they would face their usual routine every single day in a certain  continuous number of hours with breaks in the middle before they change shifts. All bodyguards have a huge responsibility on their shoulders - to keep their employer safe, secure and protected 24/7.

7. Any sociological and personal reflections? How did it feel being another person for a day?

Individual Reflections:

Allyanna: As for my personal reflection, I was very hesitant before doing the activity. Relating it to our topic on deviance, people do not deviate simply because they are afraid of going against the norms as they might be judged by others. For this particular deviance activity, I can honestly say that I was scared to do it simply because I did not want anyone to judge me since I was the “maarte and conyo” boss. Having bodyguards around me with 2 huge umbrellas over my head to protect me from the sun was definitely something that would attract attention, even though it was done in Ateneo. There were a lot of observations that the group gathered while doing the activity. A lot of girls gave me the death stares while a lot of boys laughed. I even caught some of them who kept on looking at me as I walked through SEC walk. Undoubtedly, I think these reactions that we have gathered by doing the activity definitely proved to us that our deviance activity was definitely a success since we assume that most of them believed that I was a student who had real bodyguards. Thus, I can say that the whole group was effective in portraying their own respective identities, especially the bodyguards.

As for the sociological reflection, I see all 3 sociological perspectives at play. However, the most evident would have to be Social Conflict. Based on the reactions of the other students in school, social conflict comes into play. We assume that people thought of me as spoiled. Some of them may have even judged me or “hated” me because the activity seemed like I rubbed it on their face that I was rich and I could afford to pay these bodyguards to protect me even though I was in a secured area like the school. As a boss, I also saw myself indirectly looking down on people not only to the people in school but also to the bodyguards and the personal assistant as I would just command them to do anything I want even though they were already having a hard time. If we look at reality, social conflict also comes into play as those who are capable of affording bodyguards are those who belong in the upper classes. Other sociological perspective such as Structural Functionalism and Symbolic Interactionism also comes into play. On the one hand, in SF, we see the bodyguard’s function in the society being those who protect and make sure that all the needs of their “boss” are satisfied. In society nowadays, bodyguards has become necessary especially for high ranking officials in the government such as the President. We see that as a president of a country, your life may always already be in danger thus, the presence of a Presidential Security Group is important so that the President will be protected 24/7. Somehow, I cannot imagine the president without any bodyguards by his side thus, for me, bodyguards or the PSGs has already established a function in the society. On the other hand, Symbolic Interactionism also comes into play. Personally, when I see people with their bodyguards following them around in malls, I immediately assume in my mind that these people are rich and might be popular figures. This clearly shows SI as it is how we perceive society to be. Those who have bodyguards are the ones who are rich or popular. This mindset may also be what other students were thinking of while I was walking around school. Overall, the deviance activity was definitely a great experience for me. Although I do not see myself portraying any other identity in the future, this was definitely an experience to remember.

Miko: I must admit that describing my personal disposition towards this activity as simply “excited” is an understatement. I regard myself as particularly inclined to enjoy deviating from norms, and, although I would not engage in an activity without my own self-reflexive knowledge of this deviation, watching the reactions of those around me, be it shock or contempt or laughter, helps me understand that human beings are particular, not only of their own behaviour, but also of the behaviour of those who surround them.

Bec: During our deviance day activity, I had  mixed feelings about the thing that we had to do. First, its hard to imitate an Identity that I am really familiar with. Yes, we research about them but there is this thought “Am I doing it right or am I making a fool of myself?” which kept on bothering me during the activity. Second, I felt uneasy while acting it because people kept on staring at me/us. However, on the other hand, it was fun because aside from getting to see their funny reactions, I get to portray something different other than myself.

Noel: During the deviance day, I wasn’t really able to see the reactions of the other people since I was wearing sunglasses instead of my corrective lenses. However, I had an epiphany of what our group observed. People might have seen the boss as someone “abusive”. These people are probably seeing the situation through SC perspective. On the other hand, being one of the PSGs, in order to fulfill my duty, we need to obey and respond to every order and request of our employer. I can say that I have internalized my role for I felt the need to please the boss in order to remain employed. In this case, I can say that I have overlooked the negative view of others on my employer and impose a different view/meaning regarding my employer. Through SI perspective, the employer is someone important to me because she is the one providing job compensation. Hence, the deviance day parade was actually a way to assess whether the class did engrained the other perspectives beyond learning within the four corners of the classroom.

Kim: While we were walking around campus, people were death staring our “boss”, and others were like “grabe naman nakapayong pa” and others would literally move aside for us to be able to pass. This deviance activity basically proved how SC works in our society, as we all know, influential people these days hire personal bodyguards to protect them from harm and these PSG’s would literally give their lives for their boss’ sake; after all, I would really agree with the SC’s perspective in our society. In our society these days, whenever you have the money, you would also have the capability to control and manipulate others in order for them to follow your command.

Roy: It was quite surprising that the identity we chose to portray raised eyebrows to many, knowing especially that it was done inside the Ateneo. Ateneo is known for its high elite status and often referred as the university for the rich and members of the upper class. Given this idea, and of course with some of my experiences here in the university, I was only expecting for a minor reaction in the crowd while doing the act. This expectation was drawn when I encountered a middle-aged woman, dressed formally and was guarded tightly by her private security guards (with the utilization of umbrella as well) in Xavier Hall. During the encounter, people, mostly students, seemed not to notice the lady and were just plain passing along the hallways. But for our part, doing almost the same act accumulated a bulk of reaction ranging from death staring to “pagpaparinig” and even giving way to us while we were passing. Those acts made me realize how the difference in social standing can affect the behavior and reactions of the people. For example, the middle-aged woman might not have generated the same reaction as for our group because people might view the middle-aged woman entitled for doing the act, for she has already proven herself in one particular field. While on our part, the outrageous reactions from the people (who are mostly students as well) might be due to their understanding that students (like our boss) should not behave that way because they are just students. The observation of their reactions could be a result of a “class” conflict among students, with them being disturbed by what another student has done.

Other Observations during Deviance Day:

• There were people who looked at me in a “bitchy” way – mostly girls
• They almost always give way to me when I pass (i.e. going down the stairs – they wait for me to go down first before they go up)
• 2 girls: “Uy, may umbrella pa!”
• People kept on looking – their eyes following me as I move
• Guard approached us and asked us if we have an ID (was confused when one PSG said that I’m their boss)
• People were laughing (we assume that they were laughing because they thought of me like I was spoiled)

References

WiseGeek. What does a bodyguard do? Wise Geek. Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-a-bodyguard-do.htm [Accessed 11 October 2014]

Global Bodyguard Solutions. Appearance versus Function. Available at: http://www.bodyguardservices.co.za/bodyguards-appearance-vs-function.html [Accessed 11 October 2014]

Corporate Security Services, Inc. Standards of Conduct and Appearance. Corporate Security Services, Inc. Available at: http://www.corpguards.com/standards.php?p=sds [Accessed 11 October 2014]

Bureau of Consumer Affairs. Security Guard Guide: A Summary of Laws Governing the Profession. Bureau of Consumer Affairs. Available at: http://www.bsis.ca.gov/forms_pubs/guardgd.pdf [Accessed 11 October 2014]

National Carrers Service. Job Profile: Security Officer. National Careers Service. Available at: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/securityofficer.aspx [Accessed 11 October 2014]

Presidential Security Group. Available at: http://psg.mil.ph/ [Accessed 11 October 2014]

Image References from:

http://president.gov.ph/photoalbum/27th-psg-anniversary/ [Accessed 11 October 2014]

http://archive.wn.com/2009/07/20/1400/cheetah-photographers/index_c959f906f5241e3715eb89bef03db31c.html [Accessed 11 October 2014]

Interviews Conducted:

Joy Albiero - Lady Guard (Eliazo Hall)

Interview Conducted by: Bren Membrere

Ronald Sayson - Bodyguard (Cebu)

Interview Conducted by: Allyanna Crisologo (via phone patch)