BACOLOD CITY — The Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 reported that assemblies and protests conducted by various groups across Western Visayas during President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday were “peaceful”.
In a report, PRO-6 director Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said there were no significant incidents recorded and no complaints had been received against police officers deployed to secure the areas where the rallies were held.
He added that this could be attributed to the police’s security preparations and disciplined participants.
Figures of PRO-6 showed 1,192 personnel were deployed all over Western Visayas for the SONA security coverage. These included 884 for civil disturbance management, 290 for intelligence, and 18 for explosive ordnance disposal.
About 2,430 rallyists convened in different parts of the region — 80 in Aklan; 250 in Capiz; 800 in Iloilo City; 300 in Negros Occidental; and 1,000 in Bacolod City, the report said.
In Bacolod City, members of the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Negros and its allied organizations converged at the public plaza for the “United People’s SONA 2018” on Monday afternoon.
Civil society group Paghimud-os Negros held a march-rally in the morning, dubbed “Bagting Contra ChaCha”, to protest the proposed Charter change and the shift to a federal form of government.
The group marched from the Capitol Lagoon going to the Negros Press Club building where they held a press conference. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)