Organizers say SONA rally won't be held near Batasan

Protesters will not be marching toward the Batasang Pambansa Complex during President Rodrigo Duterte's third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, citing the number of expected participants.

Instead, the groups will hold their unified action near the St. Peter Parish along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, according to the organizers.

At a dialogue with policemen on Wednesday, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said the street near the complex is too narrow to accommodate the number of protesters who will come from various groups.

"Pinili na namin na hindi lalapit sa Batasan dahil masikip 'yung kalsada at maaaring hindi kami kumasya doon sa dami ng grupong sasama ngayong taon," he said.

Reyes said unlike last year, groups critical to the Duterte administration will join forces this year and hold one big protest action, which they dubbed United People's SONA.

"Ang kaibahan lang siguro ng SONA protest ngayong taon ay magsasama-sama sa iisang lugar ang mga iba't-ibang grupo. We have called it the United People's SONA,' ibig sabihin kung dati hiwa-hiwalay 'yung mga entablado ng mga nagpo-protest, ngayon po meron tayong common stage, common program," he said.

Reyes said the groups will first hold a "unity march" from UP Diliman and will pass through various assembly points. "Magsusunduan hangga't lumaki nang lumaki papunta doon sa designated rally site," he said.

Laban ng Masa coordinator Rasti Delizo said major political groups — among them Bayan, Movement Against Tyranny, Laban ng Masa, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Partido Lakas ng Masa, Sanlakas and Tindig Pilipinas — have decided to "unite as one single political force" for the SONA 2018.

Catholic church and evangelical organizations, according to Delizo, have also expressed intention to join their protest rally.

"We've decided to unite and have a peaceful rally in order to attract more support from the broadest layers of Philippine society who are now angered by the continuing rise of economic and political attacks by the fascist Duterte regime against the Filipino masses today, and this is why we deem it very important to unite as one force to present our position," Delizo said.

During the dialogue, Delizo asked the police tasked to secure the SONA to observe the protocols that have long been established in order to ensure that no violence will take place.

These protocols include that there should be no barbed wires and container vans placed at the front line while personnel from the Civil Disturbance Management should always be in the proper attire with no firearms and with their name plates always tagged at their front breast pockets.

Delizo said name plates attached to the CDM units would help protesters "easily identify the names, if not ranks of these personnel in case any incident arises in the future."

He also asked the police to assure that Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) units to be "prepositioned at least 100 meters away behind the CDM units."

National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, for his part, assured that these protocols will be observed just like what they have done in the previous years. —KBK, GMA News