No threat vs SONA so far - AFP

MANILA, Philippines - The military has not monitored any threat that could disrupt President Aquino’s state of the nation address on July 28.

Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, however, said they would continue to monitor the security situation to prevent untoward incidents.

“It is expected that there will be protests. However, there is no threat that we have monitored that poses real danger,” Zagala said in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.

“But that doesn’t mean we will not continue our active monitoring of possible threat groups,” he added.

A senior security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the protests are expected to center on the issues surrounding the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the pork barrel scam.

“We expect rallies from the leftist organizations and civil society groups,” the official said.

Zagala said they do not see any problem with the holding of anti-government protests as long as these are done peacefully.

“We are a democratic country. They have the freedom to assemble, freedom of speech, to say what they want and as long as they do it peacefully in consonance with our laws and no violence,” he said.

Zagala said the Armed Forces Joint Task Force National Capital Region is ready support the National Capital Region Police Office, the unit that will take the lead in the SONA security preparations.

He said the military could provide the police civil disturbance management personnel, explosive ordnance teams and K9 units if requested.

Zagala said they are looking forward to hearing the President talk about the developments on the armed forces modernization program, which seeks to enable the military to achieve a minimum credible defense.