MANILA — The House of Representatives has geared up in ensuring a “safe and secured” holding of President Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA), an official said on Friday.
“We’re happy to tell you that all security plans and deployment are in place for the SONA,” House sergeant-at-arms Roland Detabali told a press briefing.
“We have had numerous inter-agency meetings, planning, and rehearsals to ensure the safety of our President, the VIPs, guests and personnel considering all possible scenarios from bombings, fire, chemical attack, etc.,” he added.
Detabali said security forces are trained and experienced with vital equipment and are capable of dealing with all possible contingencies.
He said more security forces and equipment will be deployed this year compared to last year’s SONA, considering that the situation in Marawi City has been resolved.
“Last year, ginamit sila sa Marawi so wala masyadong contingency force dito (Last year, they were tapped in Marami so we don’t have much contingency force here). Now we have that liberty to have the time and rehearsals and they can help us in really promoting the system of being confident in having a safe and secured SONA here,” Detabali said. (Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA)
