The Philippine National Police (PNP) appealed anew for the public not to stage street protests on the day of President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Instead, PNP Chief Police General Archie Gamboa encouraged the public to conduct protests online similar to what was done last Labor Day and Independence Day.
Gamboa stated that the PNP respects the right of each individual to express an opinion but pointed out that there are still protocols to be followed to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 infection.
“Nakita niyo naman in the past SONA na ina-allow naman natin yung protest but now we have a specific situation which is itong pandemic. (You have seen in the previous SONA that we allowed protests but now we have a situation which is the pandemic) So we hope everybody would cooperate,” Gamboa explained. – Report from Bea Bernardo
