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PNP vows peaceful Marcos SONA amid VP Sara impeachment issue
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 Philippines National Police (PNP) on Monday said it will take measures to ensure a peaceful conduct of the fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. next month.
'Hindi naman tayo makapagbigay ng exact numbers [ng police deployment] at saka classified yan. Kami na ang bahala basta siguraduhin namin that the SONA will be peaceful,' PNP chief Police General Nicolas Torre III said in a press briefing.
(We cannot give exact numbers of the police deployment and it's classified. We'll take care of it and we will make sure that the SONA will be peaceful.)
Asked if the PNP will make adjustments to its preparations considering there is an ongoing impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte, Torre said it depends on the estimate from the intelligence they receive.
'Well, depende sa intel estimate yan (Well, it depends on the intel estimate),' Torre said.
'Ang template naman natin taon-taon yan. Napakarami namang dumaan na mga SONA na puro marami ring mga issues, hindi lang naman sa administrasyon ngayon kundi previous administration maraming issues talaga yan. Hindi nauubusan yan, so sa atin we are going to prepare with the worst in mind but of course we hope for the best,' he added.
(Our template is similar for every year. We had SONAs surrounded by so many issues, not only in the current administration but also in the previous administration, there are always so many issues. That never ends, so for us we are going to prepare with the worst in mind but of course we hope for the best.)
Duterte will not be attending Marcos' fourth SONA on July 28, according to House Secretary General Reginald Velasco.
The Vice President is accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes. She has denied the allegations.
On June 10, the Senate sitting as an impeachment court voted to return to the House of Representatives the articles of impeachment against Duterte without dismissing or terminating them.
The move came after one of the senator-judges, Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa, an ally of the Duterte family, even before the impeachment court convened, moved for the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against the Vice President. —RF, GMA Integrated News
