The General Commander of the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) has been urged to regularly rotate all members of the Personnel Security Corps (PSC) who are working as bodyguards for VIPs.
National MP David Diaz Ximenes said members of the PSC should not work for the same person for many years.
“Some members have been bodyguards for more than 20 or15 years for the same person and it should not be like that, they should be rotated,” Ximenes told the National Parliament.
“Our leaders should trust the institution not the individual (members).”
He also suspects that some members of the PSC are using their position for their own benefit.
“We need to do an investigation and research, so we can see what happens because suddenly some members become rich, even though they receive low wages,” he said.
He therefore suggested that the activities of all PSC members be monitored in the future so that the society did not blame the institution for any wrongdoing.
In response to the issue, PNTL Deputy General Commander Commissioner Faustino da Costa said there were plans to introduce a rotating system, but there were still some difficulties that needed to be resolved.
“We are going to rotate [them], but some government members have requested to maintain them because they are already friends and consider them like family,” said da Costa.
He acknowledged that some members of the PSC members had worked as bodyguards for the same person since 2000 or 2001, and therefore they did not want to change.
However, he said a rotating system would help the service work more effectively in the future.
Regarding those PSC members using their position for their own benefit, he said the parliament must do a report and then process cases according to the law.
