PNP prepares for Marcos’ first SONA

MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has begun planning security measures for the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., which will take place this month in the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

According to PNP director for operations Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, developing a security plan in advance would allow them to cover every situation outside and inside the venue premises.

“We want to prepare as early as possible so that we can have the best security measures for the SONA. We want to come up with a good template, a good security plan that we will present to our PNP OIC (officer-in-charge) Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. for review and approval,” he added.

The police would rely on previous SONAs to guarantee that there will be no security glitches, De Leon said.

“For this year, I will personally supervise the preparations to come up with the best security plans that will be implemented for the first SONA of our President Bongbong Marcos,” he added.

He stated that handling the protesters is part of the planning.

Protesters can use freedom parks where they can hold their programs, he said.

“We respect the role of the protesters in what they would do, but your PNP will not allow them to disrupt any activities that include causing trouble and creating traffic on any busy roads in Metro Manila. We will not disturb their program and we will not even ask for any permit for their activity provided that they do not go out of the designated freedom parks,” he added.