CHR suspends work on SONA Day

The Commission on Human Rights on Saturday said it will suspend work at the CHR Central Office and other offices on Monday, July 27, the day President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“In anticipation of the heavy traffic and the demonstrations to be staged along Commonwealth Avenue in view of the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is suspending work at the CHR Central Office, including CHR NCR and CHR IV-B at the SAAC and PARDEC Buildings, on Monday, 27 July 2020,” it said in a post on Facebook.

The CHR said it will send out teams to “monitor the situation on the field.”

A rally has been planned at a portion of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Monday. Organizers said the program will last until 2 p.m. to decrease the protesters' amount of exposure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said that holding a rally on Commonwealth Avenue was prohibited. The avenue is the main thoroughfare leading to Batasang Pambansa where Duterte will deliver his SONA.

NCRPO Director Police Major General Debold Sinas however said rallies may possibly be held inside the University of the Philippines off Commonwealth Avenue.

“Kung doon talaga [sa Commonwealth Avenue], bawal. Doon sa UP kasi sa UP may sarili naman silang set-up doon, we’ll just be negotiating sa administration doon,”  NCRPO Director Police Major General Debold Sinas said.

The NCRPO received new guidelines from the Department of the Interior and the Local Government on Thursday against mass gatherings. —KG, GMA News