PNP deploys initial force of 3k personnel for SONA security
A contingent from the Manila Police District is on standby along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City as several militant groups hold protest actions against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 22, 2024. VINCE ANGELO FERRERAS/GMA Integrated News
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Saturday said it has deployed an initial force of some 3,000 personnel in key areas of Quezon City, two days ahead of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s fourth State of the Nation Address.
"Handang handa na po tayo. In fact, ngayong araw po ay naka-skeletal deployment na po tayo ng ating mga personnel na ide-deploy for purposes of the SONA," said PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Jean Fajardo in a Dobol B TV interview.
(We are ready. In fact, we have a skeletal deployment of PNP personnel for purposes of the SONA.)
"But 'yung ating full deployment, madaling araw ng July 28, full force na po ang PNP,' she added.
(But our full deployment will be on the early morning of July 28, when the PNP will be in full force.)
Earlier this week, the PNP said that around 12,000 personnel will be deployed for Marcos' fourth SONA of Marcos at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City on Monday afternoon, July 28.
Fajardo said the PNP has so far not identified any serious threats related to the conduct of the SONA.
"Sa ngayon po, wala naman po tayong nare-receive na anumang seryosong banta. Pero hindi tayo nagkukumpiyansa, lagi po tayong nakikipag-coordinate sa other law enforcement agencies particularly po sa Armed Forces of the Philippines para ma-prevent po kung mayroon man po ang mga banta po tayong na-monitor," she said.
(As of the moment, we have not received information about any serious threat. But we are not complacent, we are always coordinating with other law enforcement agencies, particularly the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to prevent any threats from arising.)
Fajardo said some PNP personnel have been deployed on Saturday along Commonwealth Avenue.
"Mga around 3,000 po 'yung ide-deploy natin. Maging 'yung mula Sandigan, papunta po doon sa Litex, ay meron na rin po tayong nakalatag at pati rito sa kahabaan ng IBP Road," she said.
(We will deploy around 3,000 personnel—from Sandigan to Litex, and also along IBP Road.)
Anti-criminality measures have been rolled out, Fajardo said, including police checkpoints and the Task Force Manila Shield.
All classes in public and private schools in Quezon City will be suspended while a liquor ban will be implemented on Monday, July 28, in view of the State of the Nation Address.
The city government earlier said road closures on that day will affect both motorists and the riding public. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
2 hours ago
- GMA Network
Man arrested in Caloocan after running amok, firing shots
A 59-year-old man, reportedly a retired Philippine marine, was arrested after running amok and firing shots at a group of youth he accused of being drug addicts. According to Sangandaan Police chief Captain Zoilo Lopez, the suspect and his friend were on their way home from a drinking session when he got into an argument with youth, asking if they were drug addicts. This was when he brought out his gun, and fired shots. 'Nadaanan niya itong mga kabataan na ito na kumakain sa isang karinderya at sinita niya ito at ang sabi niya ay napagkamalan niya raw po itong mga adik. So nasagot siya ng isang kabataan, at 'yun po ang dahilan upang bumunot ng baril itong suspect natin at bigla na lang po silang pinutukan,' he said in a report on GMA's '24 Oras Weekend' on Sunday. (He came across these young people eating at a roadside eatery and confronted them, saying he had mistaken them for drug addicts. One of them responded to him, and that was the reason for the suspect to draw his gun and suddenly start shooting at them.) The suspect's friend, who was trying to ease the situation, sustained an injury after a bullet grazed his thigh. He was brought home, and did not file any charges against the suspect. The suspect, however, was later arrested by authorities in his residence where the firearm was also retrieved. He faces charges of attempted homicide, and alarms and scandal. 'No comment po, pasensya na po,' he said in the report. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
4 hours ago
- GMA Network
Inflation, economy, price of rice: Where PH stands since SONA 2024
A resident of San Andres in Malate, Manila, purchases P20 per kilo rice at a Kadiwa center in the Bureau of Animal Industry on May 15, 2025. DANNY PATA Around this time last year, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. opened his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) not with his administration's feats, but with the daunting reality check that the fruits of economic progress were not felt by ordinary Filipinos faced with the rising prices of commodities—particularly rice. 'The hard lesson of this last year has made it very clear that whatever current data proudly bannering our country as among the best-performing in Asia, means nothing to a Filipino, who is confronted by the price of rice at 45 to 65 pesos per kilo," Marcos said in his report to the nation on Monday, July 22, 2024. "Bagamat maganda ang mga istatistikang ito, wala itong kabuluhan sa ating kababayan na hinaharap ang realidad na mataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin, lalo na ang pagkain—lalo't higit, ng bigas," the President said. (Although the statistics are good, these mean nothing to our countrymen who face the reality of high prices of goods, especially food, and most especially, rice.) With this, Marcos declared 'hindi tayo titigil sa paglalaban sa kahirapan, at sa paghahanap ng lunas upang maibalik sa normal ang presyo ng bilihin—lalo na ang bigas [we will not stop in battling poverty and finding solutions to normalize the prices of goods—especially rice.]' IBON Foundation executive director Sonny Africa told GMA News Online that the President opened his 2024 SONA 'well, with the acknowledgement that the majority of Filipinos aren't feeling any benefits from hyped economic growth.' 'If sincere, this could've signaled a reorientation of economic policy to favor poor and middle-class Filipinos instead of the narrowest slice of rich families and large corporations at the very top,' Africa said. The President will once again face the nation to deliver his report on July 28, 2025—halfway through his term. GMA News Online looked at what the Marcos administration has so far accomplished in terms of fulfilling the chief executive's promise to lower inflation and rice prices. Inflation Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that inflation—which measures the rate of growth in consumer goods and services costs—slowed down to 3.2%, well within the government's ceiling of 2% to 4%, from 6% in 2023. The PSA attributed the full-year 2024 inflation decline to the downtrend in food and non-alcoholic beverages at 4.4% from 7.9% in 2023 as well as the lower print seen in electricity, gas and other fuels at 1.7% from 4.9% year-on-year. As of end-June 2025, inflation rate cooled down further to 1.8%. Also in June this year, food inflation—which tracks the price movements of food items in a "basket" commonly purchased by households—eased to 0.1% from 0.7% in May and from 6.5% in June of last year. This was on the back of a steeper deflation in rice at -14.3% from -12.8% in May. Rice prices Rice inflation has been contracting for six months in a row and is seen to end the year at a 'negative inflation' print, consistent with the PSA's expectation that it would begin easing towards the second half of 2024 due to base effects, particularly when it began its uptrend in August 2023, as well as the impact of lower rice import tariff which took effect early July last year. In the third year of his presidency, Marcos was able to fulfill his campaign promise of lowering the price of rice to P20 per kilo in a bid to ease the burden of consumers on the increasing price of one of Filipinos' basic food commodities. Initially launched in the Visayas region last April, at least 162 locations across the country have been offering the cheaper subsidized rice, according to the Department of Agriculture. Members of the vulnerable sectors are on the priority list of who can avail the P20 per kilo of rice. The P20-per-kilo rice initiative operates primarily through KADIWA ng Pangulo outlets. The rice is being sourced from stocks of the National Food Authority, which are procured directly from local farmers. The subsidized rice program not only ensures affordable food staple for consumers but also helps decongest NFA warehouses. Moreover, this will make space to purchase more palay at prices higher than those offered by private traders. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the target is to serve 15 million households or about 60 million people by the end of 2026. The DA also vowed to intensify the implementation of industry recovery and expansion programs, such as the Swine Industry Recovery Project (SIRP) and Livestock Economic Enterprise Development, to strengthen food supply chains. IBON Foundation's Africa, however, said programs of the administration 'will all be tokenistic and exaggerated public relations efforts if the government does not commit budgets, resources and energy commensurate to the magnitude of the problems at hand.' 'The President spoke about supporting agriculture but, if anything, the smaller share of the sector in the 2025 budget to 3.9% of the total from 4.1% in 2024 indicates a deprioritization of interventions that were already inadequate to begin with,' he said. GDP target missed As far as economic targets are concerned, the Marcos administration still has a far way to go, missing its GDP growth target for the second straight year. In 2024, the economy only grew by 5.7%, revised from earlier reported 5.6% growth, below the 6.0% to 7.0% target for the year. Growth surpassed the target ceiling in 2022 at 7.6%. As of the first quarter of 2025, the country's GDP grew by 5.4%, faster than the upwardly revised growth rate of 5.3% in the last quarter of 2024. With missed targets, the Development Budget Coordination Committee has slashed again the growth goals for 2025 to 5.5% to 6.5% range from the previous target of 6.0% to 8.0%. The economic team cited heightened global uncertainties, such as the unforeseen escalation of tensions in the Middle East and the imposition of US tariffs as considerations for adjusting the growth targets. Nonetheless, the administration's aspiration to elevate the Philippines to upper-middle-income country (UMIC) seems to be getting closer, as it missed the minimum for entering the UMIC bracket under the World Bank's classification by $26. The country remained a lower-middle-income economy as its GNI per capita in 2024 stood at $4,470, while the required GNI per capita to enter the UMIC roster was at $4,496 to $13,935. — BM/NB, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
11 hours ago
- GMA Network
Torre: PNP 'hopes for best, prepares for worst' ahead of SONA 2025
Philippine National Police chief General Nicolas Torre III said they are 'hoping for the best and preparing for the worst' as security preparations continue ahead of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday. Torre made the statement after his charity boxing event in Manila where he was declared as winner by default, shortly before he headed to check on critical points of deployment to ensure the security for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.'s fourth SONA at the Batasang Pambasa in Quezon City. "After this, actually pupunta kami ng Baseco and then after we release the relief goods that we have, pupunta na kami sa areas kung saan ang critical points ng ating deployment sa SONA," Torre said. The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said more than 20,000 police personnel have been deployed as part of security measures for the annual event. When asked if the number of deployed cops for the SONA is overkill, Torre responded it is just part of their preparations. The NCRPO said nearly 23,000 police personnel will secure this year's SONA. "We always respect the opinion of other people. Naniniguro lang tayo, we always hope for the best but we are prepared for the worst," said Torre. (We are just making sure.) In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, NCRPO spokesperson Police Major Hazel Asilo also said they have been closely coordinating with the intelligence community as part of their SONA preparations. Meanwhile, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it have traffic management and flood measures in place along Commonwealth Avenue for the SONA. — RF, GMA Integrated News
