THE PNP has started crafting security measures that will be implemented during the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr on July 25.
“We want to prepare as early as possible so that we can have the best security measures for the SONA,” said PNP director for operations Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon who is leading the SONA preparations.
He expressed confidence the upcoming SONA will be as peaceful as the May 9 elections, the June 19 inauguration of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio and the June 30 inauguration of Marcos.
“Year in, year out, we are preparing for SONA, so we are now reviewing all the security plans before, and we will adopt the best practices before and make the necessary adjustments based on the lessons we learned from the past,” said De Leon.
De Leon said among the issues the PNP will pay close attention to are protest actions that are traditionally conducted during SONAs.
De Leon said protesters will be allowed to hold programs at freedom parks but not in the immediate vicinity of Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City, where the SONA is traditionally held.
De Leon said the PNP will not allow the protesters to disrupt the SONA, including “causing trouble and creating traffic on any busy roads in Metro Manila.”
“We will have freedom parks for them and just like what happened during the inauguration, we will not disturb their program and we will not even ask for any permit for their activity provided that they do not go out of the designated freedom parks,” De Leon also said.
He also urged the protesters to avoid confrontation with the police, adding: “Let us show to the world the kind of political maturity that we have and that we are all looking forward to a better country.”
