Tight security at Makati malls

Just this morning I went with my family to hear mass at the Greenbelt chapel. On entering Greenbelt 3, our bags and waists were checked by security guards. Maybe not my wife's waist because there was only one male guard at the entrance.

After that, we went to eat at the National Sports Grill. After lunch, we parted ways - me doing some office work at Seattle's Best Cafe in Glorietta and my wife and son window shopping for a new ballcap and belt at Landmark. I caught up with them at Landmark a couple of hours later.

Before entering Landmark, I was checked by a male guard running his handheld metal detector over my bag and feeling the small of my back. One could actually conceal a weapon tucked in the pants waist covered by a back held close to your belly.

After buying a pail and a belt, we went looking for light colored trousers for my Monday uniform. Having found none in Landmark, we crossed the enclosed bridge to Glorietta then to SM Makati. We were checked before entering Glorietta and then again at the doors of SM Makati by different sets of guard.

All in all, from entering Greenbelt 3 to crossing to Landmark to transferring to SM Makati, we were checked frice (as one funny email went when referring to a fourth instance)!

I can understand the transition from Greenbelt to Landmark since the overhead walkway traversing Greenbelt and Landmark is also used by people coming from the heart of Makati.

But the transfer from Landmark to Glorietta to SM Makati via elevated enclosed bridges is much different. There is no way I can see someone using that bridge without being checked at the ground floor entances. So why the multiple inspections?

One reason might be that they want to visually assure each shopper or passerby that they are safe.

Or the managers of one mall do not trust the security arrangements of the other that they want to make sure that people from adjoining malls are not carrying any deadly weapon.

Whichever of the two reasons they may have is beyond my knowledge. What do you think?