SOME 15,000 personnel from the PNP and other government agencies will be deployed to secure the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Marcos on July 25 at the Batasang Pambansa.
PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said the number was mentioned in the security preparation presented by the PNP to Interior Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr last Monday.
Fajardo said the security set-up was presented to Abalos by National Capital Region Police (NCRPO) Director Maj. Gen. Felipe Natividad, who will play a key role in the SONA.
“As early as last week, we’ve been preparing for the first SONA of President Marcos.
They’ve presented their initial deployment,” said Fajardo.
“Based on their presentation, they will be initially deploying around 15,000 composite personnel from the PNP and other security forces and allied agencies, including the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), PCG (Philippine Coast Guard), BFP (Bureau of Fire Protection) and even MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority),” added Fajardo.
Fajardo did not provide a breakdown of the personnel initially earmarked to secure the SONA. The bulk of personnel tasked to secure past SONAs came from the PNP.
Last year, there were about 15,000 personnel deployed to secure the last SONA of President Duterte, with nearly 12,000 of them coming from the police force.
As in the past, Fajardo said protesters will not be allowed to hold programs near the Batasang Pambansa complex, adding the PNP will only allow protests in freedom parks.
“They could hold their protests and rallies in these areas… (But) they are not going to be allowed to march outside the freedom parks,” she said.
She said policemen will be deployed to monitor the protests in freedom parks “to provide public and security services and to ensure the activity they (protesters) will conduct will be peaceful come SONA day.”
Fajardo said the NCRPO has held initial dialogues with possible organizers of the protest actions last week. She said more dialogues will be held in the coming days to ensure peaceful protest actions.
