10,000 cops to be deployed for P-Noy's SONA

MANILA, Philippines – The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) would deploy at least 10,000 policemen for the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino on July 26.

NCRPO chief Roberto Rosales said 7,000 of the anti-riot personnel will secure the Batasang Pambansa complex where members of the two Houses of Congress are expected to gather for Mr. Aquino’s SONA.

Rosales said they have no idea yet as to what groups would stage a protest rally during the SONA next Monday.

“We have no listings yet of any particular group that would stage a protest rally to coincide with President Aquino’s SONA. Maybe we will know about it by this week,” said Rosales.

When pressed why there is a huge number of policemen deployed in Mr. Aquino’s SONA, the NCRPO chief said the figure includes the reserve and augmentation forces coming from the nearest police regional offices (PROs).

Rosales would also have a dialogue with rally organizers, cause-oriented groups’ leaders and other stakeholders at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City on July 21 to discuss the security operation that will be undertaken by the NCRPO and to thresh out certain issues pertaining to rallies and other mass actions that will be held during the SONA.

Earlier, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) conducted a seminar on all crowd disturbance management (CDM) teams of the NCRPO to educate them on proper operation and respect for human rights.

Meanwhile, the Northern Police District (NPD) was declared as this year’s champion of the NCRPO Crowd Dispersal Management (CDM) competition held at the Rizal Park elevated ground in Manila last Saturday. The NPD bested the other four police districts and the NCRPO’s Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) in the show of skills and scenario solving ability in crowd control security operations and ran away with its P30,000 top prize.

Rosales emphasized that aside from honing the skills and knowledge in CDM operations, the tournament is meant to highlight the rules and procedures of the police in respecting human rights.

He said the CDM competition is held annually weeks before the SONA of the president and the opening of the regular session of the Congress to show the commitment of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in protecting and securing these constitutionally mandated events.

Rosales commended the officers and men of the different CDM teams for their hard work and show of dedication to duty during the demonstration of basic CDM formations and problem solving scenarios.

He added that regular practice, constant reminders from officers and vigilant supervision during training of CDM personnel will ensure the accomplishment of tasked mission in every police security operation.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) became first runner up and received P20,000 while the Manila Police District (MPD) was second runner up and got the P10,000 prize.

The CDM troops of the Eastern Police District (EPD), Southern Police District (SPD), and RPSB were each given P5,000 consolation prizes.

In winning the CDM competition, NPD will have the distinction of keeping the Perpetual Championship Trophy for a year until the next competition.