NCRPO urges SONA protesters not to bring bags, jackets
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2019 09:58:05 +0000
NATIONAL Capital Region director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has urged both anti and pro-government protesters to refrain from bringing bags and wearing jackets when they hold rallies for the 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Duterte next week.
But NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar was quick to clarify that they will not prohibit the carrying of bags and wearing of jackets of the protesters since aside from the fact that it is difficult to enforce, it is the right of the protesters to do so.
“We are asking them not to carry bags and wear jackets. But this is just a discouragement, we cannot prohibit them from doing it,” said Eleazar.
The official said his appeal is part of the security measures in order to ensure the peaceful and orderly conduct of protest actions.
This, amid security concerns after authorities recently confirmed that one of the two suicide bombers in a military camp that left six people dead was a Filipino.
Eleazar said that he will bring up the issue of urging protesters not to carry bags and wear jackets when he and leaders and organizers of protest actions meet again on Wednesday.
“They have to police their ranks, otherwise, it is them who would be affected. If in case something bad happened, it is them who would be directly affected,” said Eleazar.
At least 9,000 policemen will be tapped to secure the President’s SONA, at least 7,500 of them will be deployed in Quezon City specifically in Commonwealth and Batasan Pambansa areas.
He said the policemen will be augmented by force multipliers from the military and other government agencies.
“We are expecting at least 15,000 protesters based on the SONA last year,” said Eleazar.
Whether or not the number of protesters would increase or decrease, Eleazar said they are ready to secure the areas where protesters would converge, march and hold programs on July 22.
Eleazar said he had already met with rally organizers last week wherein they discussed the security protocols and crafted rules and guidelines.
He said they allowed the anti-government protesters to reach the nearest possible areas where they could hold their programs in order to prevent clashes since preventing protesters are usually the reasons of violent confrontations in the past.
“We will even help, assist them in constructing the stage where they hold programs,” said Eleazar.
He said they are banking on what was agreed upon during the meeting in order to prevent police intervention. (Aaron Recuenco)