Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — As long as concerned local government units and offices grant a permit, militant groups can rally inside the University of the Philippines – Diliman (UPD) and Quezon City Memorial Circle (QCMC) during the first State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on July 25.
Commonwealth Avenue, however, is strictly a “no-rally zone,” said the Philippine National Police (PNP) during their coordinating conference for Sona held at Camp Karingal, Quezon City on Tuesday.
“Pwede po tayo doon sa loob ng UP, doon sa QCMC kung makakakuha po kayo ng permit kasi iyon po iyong usual na pinagdadausan po ng ating rally,” Police Colonel Fernando Reyes Ortega, deputy district director for administration at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), said.
(Groups can conduct their rallies inside UP and QCMC if they secure a permit because these are the usual areas where rallies are commonly held.)
No prior permission is required to conduct rallies at the QCMC, one of Metro Manila’s designated freedom parks.
Meanwhile, mass assemblies on campuses of state-owned colleges or universities like UPD will be under the rules enforced by the academic institution.
Ortega further noted, “For roads, wala tayong ganoon na designated place for the rallies kaya iyong buong stretch ng Commonwealth [Avenue] definitely is a no-rally zone.”
(For roads, we don’t have designated places for rallies, so the whole stretch of Commonwealth Avenue is definitely a no-rally zone.)
Major General Felipe Natividad, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, further discussed this as he pointed out that rallies along Commonwealth Avenue may cause disorder and disrupt day-to-day activities in the thoroughfare.
He added that dialogues between PNP and organizers of Sona rallies have already commenced days ahead of the event.
READ: PNP to Sona protesters: Give Bongbong Marcos admin a chance
“Commonwealth [Avenue] is not the right place for them to do that kaya iyon ang ating pakiusap sa kanila,” Natividad noted. “We are trying to reach out to them na pinapakiusap natin, as much as possible, not to be there. Kasi time immemorial, we’ve been doing this. Every year, nagra-rally sila. Nandiyan tayo sa Commonwealth [Avenue], haharangin sila.”
(Commonwealth Avenue is not the right place for them to do that, so we’re reaching out and requesting them not to go there. Since time immemorial, we have been blocking rallies that reach Commonwealth Avenue.)
Should rallyists insist on holding mass demonstrations along Commonwealth Avenue, Natividad said “maximum tolerance and calibrated response” will be employed as per instruction of PNP officer-in-charge Vicente Danao Jr.
“We will not allow them kasi [they] will create public disorder. Hangga’t maaari, kaya we are reaching [out to] them, we are trying to talk to them na kung pwede iyong [sa] Commonwealth [Avenue], if we can do away with it already,” he added.
(We will not allow protesters there because they will create public disorder. So if possible, we are reaching out to them, trying to talk to them to do away with conducting rallies on Commonwealth Avenue.)
Various advocates and progressive groups have conducted protests along Commonwealth Avenue in previous Sonas, including that of Marcos’ predecessor — former President Rodrigo Duterte.
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