15,000 cops to be deployed for SONA

MANILA, Philippines - At least 15,000 policemen will be deployed all over Metro Manila for President Aquino’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, officials said yesterday.

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano said most of these policemen will secure the House of Representatives, where the SONA is to take place.

The other policemen will perform their usual function of preventing crimes in different areas in the metropolis, he said.

“We have requested more or less 15,000 policemen to augment our force,” Albano said in an interview.

Yesterday, Albano led officials during an inspection along Commonwealth Avenue, where protest rallies are expected to take place on the day of the SONA.

According to Albano, this was to survey the area and put in place the needed structures to manage to street protests on July 22.

“We are doing this not just to secure our officials, who will be going to the SONA, but also the protesters and even the motorists and the general public,” Albano said.

QCPD deputy director for administration Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said they are set to meet today with representatives from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Quezon City government’s Department of Public Order and Safety.

Pagdilao said they will coordinate a conference on the security preparations for the upcoming SONA.

Albano said there would also be a “stakeholder dialogue” with representatives of non-government organizations and militant groups expected to hold street protests on the day of the SONA.

“We would like to meet with the leaders of these groups to discuss with them the ground rules,” he said.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leonardo Espina is expected to attend the dialogue.

The QCPD’s civil disturbance management team has also been conducting rehearsals on how to deal with protesters on the day of the SONA.

Espina said they will make the event peaceful and orderly. “We are in the thick of drafting measures to ensure that the protest rallies to be staged by left-leaning groups would be without violence,” he said.

NCRPO spokesperson Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas-Gonzales said they are studying videos of past confrontations with militants to come up with ways to ensure that protest rallies can be conducted peacefully.