📄 Abstract
This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of security professionals regarding security governance at the organizational level within private security agencies in Region IV-A (CALABARZON). The study sought to determine the participants' experiences in governing physical security, information security, and personnel security, including how they perceived governance practices, encountered organizational challenges, adapted to changing operational conditions, and interpreted the impact of governance on organizational security. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, data were gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 21 key informants who were selected through purposive sampling. The findings revealed that participants experienced physical security governance as a continuous process of safeguarding facilities through access control, surveillance, patrol operations, inspections, emergency preparedness, and incident response. Information security governance was experienced through the responsible handling of organizational information, confidentiality, controlled access, document management, and compliance with data protection policies. Personnel security governance was described as fostering competence, integrity, accountability, and professionalism through recruitment, background investigation, training, supervision, performance evaluation, and ethical discipline. They likewise described security governance as a dynamic organizational experience influenced by inconsistent policy compliance, manpower shortages, resource limitations, evolving security threats, information security risks, increasing client expectations, and regulatory requirements. They experienced these challenges by adopting risk-based deployment strategies, strengthening supervision, enhancing communication, implementing digital reporting systems, conducting continuous training, and promoting security awareness and organizational collaboration. Across these experiences, they perceived security governance as a shared organizational responsibility requiring effective leadership, accountability, continuous improvement, and adaptability. The essence of the lived experience revealed that security governance is an integrated organizational commitment that unites leadership, accountability, risk management, and professional responsibility in protecting people, information, and organizational assets while continuously adapting to emerging security challenges. Based on these findings, the study proposes a Context-Specific Security Governance Framework for Private Security Agencies in Region IV-A (CALABARZON) to strengthen governance practices across physical security, information security, and personnel security, thereby promoting organizational effectiveness, regulatory compliance, and sustainable security management.
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📚 How to Cite:
Pepito, Nestor T , SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN PRIVATE SECURITY AGENCIES: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF PHYSICAL, INFORMATION, AND PERSONNEL SECURITY , Volume 12 , Issue 8, August 2026, EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) , Pages: 971 - 987 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra31408