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SECURITY
preparations by the National Police and the Armed Forces
paid off on Monday as rallies and other demonstrations
staged by different groups turned out to be peaceful.
Citing
field reports culled by the National Operations Center
in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Chief Supt. Nicanor
Bartolome, National Police spokesman, said that except
for the march on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City by
militants, “the overall situation remained orderly and
peaceful nationwide.”
“At the
height of the Sona [State of the Nation Address]
security operations, the National Police Crisis
Management Committee, headed by Deputy Director General
Jesus Verzosa and members of the directorial staff and
directors of national support units, were in Camp Crame,
monitoring the situation,” he said.
“The
readiness of police personnel in performing their duty
and the cooperation of all concerned sectors, including
the participants in the mass actions, made the day for
all of us. There were some mass actions and public
assemblies reported in some regions, but all these were
generally peaceful,” Bartolome said.
The
National Police chief, Director General Avelino Razon
Jr., congratulated Metro Manila police commander
Director Geary Barias, who was the overall ground
commander of the Sona security operations, and the
contingent from the Armed Forces National Capital Region
Command (NCRCom) for the peaceful and orderly turnout of
the event.
“I
congratulate, as well, the leaders and members of the
different groups that marched to Commonwealth Avenue for
a well-organized activity consistent with what had been
agreed upon,” Razon said.
Some
7,000 policemen and soldiers were deployed in different
locations in Metro Manila to ensure order and security.
The
NCRCom chief, Maj. Gen. Arsenio Arugay, said security
situation in Metro Manila remained normal during the
whole day although the Armed Forces went on red alert.
Still,
he said the NCRCom is conducting post-Sona monitoring
and keeping an eye on groups who might still want to
take advantage of the situation.
In
Manila, antiriot police blocked hundreds of protesters
from marching to the historic Don Chino Roces (formerly
Mendiola) Bridge near Malacañang before noon Monday.
Some 500
militant groups, led by the Buklurang Manggagawa ng
Pilipinas (BMP) and Sanlakas, held protest actions
instead at the corner of Nicanor Reyes (formerly
Morayta) Street and Claro M. Recto Avenue, to highlight
their calls for reversal of regressive tax measures,
including the expanded value-added tax.
The
militants gathered at the University of Santo Tomas on
España Street at around 9 a.m. and were on their way to
Mendiola when the police blocked their path on Nicanor
Reyes Street. No violent confrontation was reported.
Supt.
Ricardo Layug of the Manila Police District (MPD) said
some 150 antiriot policemen were on standby to disperse
the demonstrators.
The
militants finished their program at around 11:30 and
then proceeded to Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, to
join other militant groups.
Thousands of workers belonging to the Alliance of
Progressive Labor took to the streets in Metro Manila,
Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato and General Santos to
link arms with other social movements and demand an end
to the jobs crisis and skyrocketing oil and food
products.
In Cebu,
however, the threatened rally in front of the Malacañang
in the South did not push through. (With TJ Agcaoili and
Paul Atienza) |
