PNP on heightened alert for Duterte's 5th SONA, no threat seen

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is on heightened alert for President Rodrigo Duterte's fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac said on Sunday.

"Nasa heightened alert ang Philippine National Police," Banac said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

The PNP is also ready with its security preparations for the President's SONA on Monday, and no threat has been detected, he said.

"Kasado na ang ating preparation sa seguridad ng ating Pangulo. Sa ngayon, wala tayong natanggap na banta," Banac said.

"Ang ating peace and order situation ngayon ay napaka-stable at mababa ang krimen," he said.

Certain groups such as Bayang Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said they will hold a protest action on Monday inside the University of the Philippines campus on Diliman after they were not allowed to hold rallies on Commonwealth Avenue. The highway leads to Batasang Pambansa where Duterte is expected to deliver his SONA.

"Pinapayagan po 'yan [protest sa loob ng UP]," Banac said, adding that the university has academic freedom.

"Ginagalang natin ang academic freedom diyan," the PNP official said.

"Pero sa public spaces, wala talagang pinapayagan [na mag-rally]," he said. 

"Ang mga LGUs [local government units] hindi na nagbibigay ng permits," Banac said.

National Capital Region Police Office chief Police Major General Debold Sinas on Friday said they received new guidelines from the Department of the Interior and Local Government on Thursday about the ban on gatherings during SONA.

Sinas shared the DILG's memorandum to reporters, stating that "The Inter-Agency Task Force strongly reiterates that mass gatherings, such as, but not limited to movie screenings, sporting events, and other entertainment activities, community assemblies, and non-essential work gatherings, are prohibited subject only to very limited exceptions stated in Section 4, Paragraph 12 of the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines, as amended."

Banac said the ban on mass gatherings was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.

"Kung ating mapapansin ngayon, dito sa Kalakhang Maynila, nasa critical stage na," he said, noting that some hospitals said their hospital beds allotted for COVID-19 patients were already full.

Banac urged the public to stay home if possible.

"Kung maaari, stay at home at gawin ang any kilos protesta online," he said.

Banac also said rallyists who will go to UP Diliman on Monday are expected to observe health protocols such as wearing of masks.

"Pinapaubaya natin ito sa organizers. Responsibilidad nila na panatilihin ang health safeguards," he said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) however on Sunday urged rally organizers not to compromise the health and welfare of people as "mass gatherings are the fastest way for the virus to spread."

"We appeal to the rally organizers not to compromise the health and welfare of the people," DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

"We ask them not to be blind to the scientific evidence that mass gatherings are the fastest way for the virus to spread among their ranks which can then infect their families and ultimately their communities," he added.

Meanwhile, the annual burning of the President's effigy on Commonwealth Avenue on SONA Day will take place online.

The Commission on Human Rights on Saturday said it will deploy teams on Monday to “monitor the situation on the field.” —KG, GMA News