Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Police say Sona was generally peaceful
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) said all public assemblies and mass activities held in some parts of Metro Manila and elsewhere were generally peaceful during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (Sona).
This was the overall assessment of PNP Chief Avelino Razon Jr. on the activities staged by some cause-oriented groups and militant organizations during the President's address, signaling the opening of the 14th Congress.
PNP spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said except for the march along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, "the overall situation remained orderly and peaceful nationwide".
"At the height of the Sona security operations, the PNP 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," Bartolome said.
"The readiness of our 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," he said.
Razon congratulated National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Director Geary Barias, the overall ground commander of the Sona security operations, and the contingent from the National Capital Region Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 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.
About 7,000 PNP and AFP Civil Disturbance Management personnel were deployed to different locations in Metro Manila to ensure order and security.
According to authorities, they observed "maximum tolerance" in dealing with the protesters.
Thousands of protesters belonging to various militant groups converged in front of the Ever Gotesco mall along Commonwealth Avenue where a police barricade was set up.
They were allowed later to march closer to Batasan Pambansa and hold a program in front of the Saint Peter Church.
Students and out-of-school youth also joined the protest against the President's Sona.
"There is no point in listening to another Sona of more lies and deceit. Not in her Sona or in any statement could Arroyo deny the worst economic crisis and political instability that Filipinos have experienced during her eight-year reign," said Vencer Crisostomo, chairperson of Leagues of the Filipino Students (LFS).
Crisostomo blamed the government for massive dropouts of students every year. He also warned that they would hold more youth protest rally.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) deployed a team to monitor the conduct of rallies to ensure that there will be no abuses from both sides.
CHR Protection and Monitoring Division head Carmencita Rosete said the team composed of lawyers will monitor the rallies and guard against possible rights abuses both from the ranks of the militant groups and the authorities.
"We would be keeping a close watch on both sides so that there will be no human rights violation and to ensure fair treatment of the situation," Rosete said.
She said the team will look if the rights of the rallyists to free speech are protected and to ensure that both sides will respect the rule of law especially in tense situation where a single situation could result in violence.
"We will ensure that the right to free speech was respected. We will see if there would be violation either by the police or the rallyists," said Rosete.
She said the peaceful conduct of recent protest movements could partly be attributed to the monitoring teams that had been deployed by the CHR. (JLCP/Sunnex)
