MANILA, July 16 — To ensure that there will no untoward incident in this year’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) conducted a series of dialogues with various cause-oriented groups and stakeholders planning to conduct various actions this coming July 24.
QCPD head Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar said the meetings aimed to thresh out specific concerns from various cause-oriented groups and stake holders for a peaceful and orderly SONA.
This includes mass demonstrations staging area and security protocols among others.
“Last year’s SONA was a very different SONA deployment for security personnel compared to other previous SONA’s kung saan doon tayo lagi lang nagkikita sa may Commonwealth particularly sa may Ever Gotesco at sa may St. Peter Church kung saan ang pinagtatalunan lang dun ay yung ma-extend ang lugar kung saan magcoconduct ng programa pati na yung mga ibang organisasyon para ilabas ang inyong saloobin,” he added.
“But last time, with the guidance of the President (Rodrigo Duterte) and with your concerns and consideration by the security forces, we were able to move to that portion where you can have your program which was almost at the doorstep of the Batasan or only around 250 meters away,” the QCPD chief pointed out.
Eleazar said that for this year’s SONA, they are considering or recommended that the same template will be used and will be implemented.
“But just the same, gusto po naming marinig ang inyong mga concerns and mga inputs. And I believe that having these considerations, makikita natin na wala tayong masyadong magiging problema. What we have last year was a show of trust and confidence between among the different stakeholders. First time na nakita natin na nagsama-sama lahat na ang dating ay lahat ay nagtulungan- yung mga ralista mismo, they have their own marshalls and have their own garbage collectors,” he added.
An estimated 6,000 police officers and soldiers are expected to secure Batasan Complex or 2,000 lower than last year.
“Last time, even if it were a stone’s throw away from Batasan Compex na waIa yung mga container vans, wala yung mga concertina wires ay nagakaroon tayo ng maayos na samahan. As the ground commander of this SONA 2017, I am hopeful that we can have the same arrangement as last year,” Eleazar further explained. (Priam F. Nepomuceno/PNA)
