MANILA – The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) announced on Friday the suspension of all permits to carry firearms outside of residence (PTCFOR) the entire 24 hours of the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on July 24.
The suspension of PTCFOR in NCR will be from 12:01 a.m. on July 24 until midnight of the same day, said NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo after a meeting held at the national headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
He said the “No Fly Zone/No Drone Zone” in and adjacent the vicinity of the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City will also be implemented.
Okubo said that of the 22,905 personnel set to be deployed during SONA, 17,121 will be from the five districts of NCRPO, 4,476 from government agencies, and 500 from force multipliers.
The NCRPO will conduct simulations and communication exercises to lay down contingency measures for various types of incidents that may occur.
“Inaasahan na natin ang pagkakaroon ng mga kilos protesta sa araw [ng SONA] kung kaya’t nakahanda na tayo para sa pagpapanatili ng kaayusan at seguridad. Mahigpit din nating ipatutupad ang maximum tolerance at pagsunod sa Police Operational Procedures, lalong-lalo na ang pagpapahalaga sa karapatang-pantao ng lahat ng makikilahok sa araw na ito (We are anticipating protests on SONA day so we are ready to maintain order and security. We will also strictly enforce maximum tolerance and compliance with Police Operational Procedures, especially valuing the human rights of all those who will participate),” Okubo said.
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said the police force has not monitored any threat to President Marcos Jr.’s second SONA.
“As we have been saying, expect for the worst and hope for the best,” Acorda said in a radio interview.
“We have (security) template that we follow during SONA and definitely we are prepared for this, depending on the intelligence reports that will come in, if there are adjustments to be done,” he added.
As for the treatment of rallyists, Acorda said the police will be observing maximum tolerance.
“We will see to it that they exercise their rights. We will let them air whatever issues they want to air. But we will make sure that this does not affect the rights of others,” he said. (PNA)
