MASSIVE protests will be held in Bacolod City and other parts of Negros Occidental on Monday, July 25, 2022, in line with the first State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Noli Rosales, spokesperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros Occidental, said they will burn the effigy of the president at the end of the event to show their discontent with the situation that is going on in the country.
Dubbed “the people’s Sona,” they will call for Marcos to look into the current state of the economy, especially the P3.6 trillion debt left by his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.
“This will be a memorable protest and we will lay one by one or demands to him including the lowering of prices of basic commodities, increase in wages and regularization of laborers across the country,” Rosales said.
The protestors will also call for a genuine agrarian reform program, a review of the increasing number of human rights violations and the resolution to the 6.1-percent inflation rate, among others, he said.
The protestors will march from Rizal Park passing by the Bacolod Public Plaza before conducting their activities at the Fountain of Justice Area in front of the city hall.
For his part, Bacolod City Police Director Colonel Joseph Thomas Martir said their security preparations for the rallies are now in place.
A crowd dispersal management unit will be deployed at the rally center along with intelligence operatives, he said.
Meanhwhile, Colonel Leo Pamittan, Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) director, ordered the chiefs of police to be on guard for the possible protest actions in their areas in connection to the president’s Sona.
Nocppo Spokesperson Lieutenant Judesess Catalogo said Crowd Dispersal Management Units will also be deployed at the areas where rallies will take place.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is "very busy" preparing for his first Sona, which will be delivered at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City Monday.
Marcos has opted to be hands-on, as he is the one drafting his speech, said Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez in an interview with Palace reporters Friday.
"He’s the one writing his Sona message. And he will be very busy. Yesterday (July 21), we tried to relax his schedule so he can write," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez could not say how long the Sona speech will last, noting that it remains "a work in progress."
"It’s a moving thing. I think it’s too premature to say right now the number of pages [of Marcos' speech])," he said.
He, however, said Marcos' speech will focus on the administration's economic agenda and coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic response efforts.
Rodriguez added that Marcos would also mention the planned full reopening of classes amid the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic.
Marcos is also set to discuss his intent to pursue "a digitalized governance."
Marcos, as the country's agriculture czar, is likewise expected to tackle his plans to ensure food security in the country, Rodriguez said. (with reports from PNA)