Cops appeal to Sona demonstrators: Clean up your trash

The chief of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Wednesday appealed to State of the Nation Address (Sona) demonstrators to clean up the garbage that might arise during their rallies.

QCPD Director Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel Jr. asked demonstrators, both protesters and supporters, to bring their own garbage bag for easier collection of trash after their respective programs.

“Ang challenge ko lang sa mga rallyista, both dun sa protester and pro-administration, is you bring your own garbage bag, all your garbage ilagay niyo doon,” Esquivel said in a chance interview in Commonwealth, Quezon City.

(My challenge to the rallyists, both the protesters and pro-administration, is you bring your own garbage bag, you put all your garbage there.)

“We will designate a certain na point of collection at after naman nitong activity mabilis tayong mag normalize [ang traffic] at malinis ang lugar, at tulong na rin natin sa kalikasan,” he added.

(We will designate a certain na point of collection and after this activity, we can quickly normalize the traffic and clean up the place, and to contribute to our environment.)

The idea, however, is not new as protesters do it every Sona rally, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. said.

“We already do that every Sona,” Reyes told Inquirer.net.

A larger crowd of protesters is expected to fill the Commonwealth Avenue this year for President Rodrigo Duterte’s third Sona on Monday as pressing issues about rising prices of goods, killings and human rights violations hog the headlines.

Dubbed as People’s Sona, the rally this year will be held in front of St. Peter’s Parish Chapel, about two kilometers away from Batasang Pambansa Complex, and around 20,000 people are expected to join the protest.   /vvp