Militants slam NCRPO’s drill for SONA

MILITANTS condemned the civil disturbance management drill of the National Capital Region Police Office held last Sunday, saying the activity was intended to “scare the public and discourage people” from joining protests.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno said that the drill, which was done by the NCRPO in preparation for President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address on July 27, was a “blatant show of brute force” meant to put mass actions in a bad light.

“The drill itself was shown to be unnecessarily violent. Dispersal in the Philippine National Police’s definition almost always involves violence, with the protesters at the receiving end of their truncheons and water cannons,” KMU chairperson Elmer Labog said in a statement on Tuesday.

The CDM drill was a competition among police units under NCRPO to test their readiness for any eventuality during SONA. In the challenge held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, police recruits played as the protesters.

Members of the Northern Police District won as they were ones who were able to control the crowd without using force.

According to NCRPO chief Police Director Carmelo Valmoria, the drill has to be “realistic.” “We will have anarchy if we don’t institute appropriate measures,” he said.

In the past SONAs, KMU chairperson Elmer Labog said that violence always starts from the end of police.

With how the drill was made, Labog said they expect that Commonwealth Avenue would be filled with policemen and fire trucks in every roadblock while traffic islands would be surrounded with concertina wires on July 27.

“This picture belies the ‘Kayo ang boss ko’ line much touted by President Aquino. He is not serving the workers and the people, whom he calls ‘bosses,’ as shown by his repression of their right to protest,” Labog said.

“Afraid that his depiction of the state of the nation would be exposed as fake, Aquino is resorting to stifling the workers’ and people’s right to protest and show the real state of the nation. Instead of listening to the legitimate grievances of the people, his government is hell bent in trying to stifle dissent,” he added.