Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon police to help keep peace during first SONA of Bongbong Marcos Jr.
LUCENA CITY—Police in the Calabarzon region are ready to maintain peace and order during the first State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 25, of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
“We are all set to augment at any given time the National Capital Region Police Office,” Police Brigadier General Antonio Yarra, Police Regional Office 4-A chief, said in a statement issued on Friday, July 22, by its public information office.
Yarra said the cops in the five provinces have activated their respective border control points and strategic security control points to monitor the people’s movement coming in and out of Metro Manila and Calabarzon.
Yarra warned that lawmen would not let “scrupulous individuals roam around at this time and stage violent acts that would threaten the safety of the attendees in the Sona.”
Yarra said the police forces in the region conducted on July 21 a civil-disturbance management (CDM) simulation exercise to check the readiness of equipment and the physical strength of its personnel.
“So far, the groups have noted that all the unit’s executions are going well as planned,” Yarra said.
But Yarra emphasized to the police the importance of “respecting human rights and upholding the rule of law” in rallies and demonstrations during the Sona.
“Maximum tolerance shall be observed by the troops on the ground as long as the demonstrators abide by the existing policies and laws of the nation,” he stressed.
He added: “Citizens may practice their right to expression as long as they will not violate other people’s rights.”
“The government is not deaf and blind in answering the call for reform and progress. Though every administration is not perfect, it will always prioritize the welfare of the general public,” he said.
Mass demonstrations during the Sona will be permitted only in designated freedom parks.
But groups intending to hold a rally during the Sona must secure a permit from the local governments to avoid being dispersed by the police CDM unit.
Yarra had ordered the cops “to secure the identified freedom parks where our citizens may stage their sentiments and support to the government.”
He said permits had been issued to demonstrators in four areas in Cavite, Laguna, and Quezon. These areas are Pala-Pala Junction in Dasmariñas City; Perez Park in Lucena City, Quezon; University of the Philippines campus in Los Baños, Laguna, and the McDonald’s Crossing in Calamba City.
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