7k—not 16k—pro-Duterte rallyists went to Plaza Miranda, PNP says

Seven thousand pro-Duterte rallyists—not 15,000 to 16,000 as the Manila Police District announced—gathered at the Plaza Miranda, the Philippine National Police headquarters said on Friday.

Interestingly, PNP deputy spokesperson Superintendent Vimellee Madrid said the smaller figure of 7,000 Plaza Miranda demonstrators also came from figures submitted by the MPD to the national headquarters.

“Ang monitoring natin is sa Camp Crame tapos meron tayong downline na nagbibigay sa atin ng information. So if you have that information coming from their mouth talaga i-verify natin,” Madrid said.

“Kasi dinodouble check naman namin sila, from time to time tinatanong namin sila and we got that information from them also. So if they are publishing different figures, iba rin yung sinasabi nila sa amin itanong natin,” she added.

“They will be made to explain kung they published different number (crowd estimate) to their submitted number,” Madrid said.

Madrid said an estimated 7,000 rallyists were at Plaza Miranda for the pro-government rally while another 3,000 were near San Beda college in Mendiola.

She said 7,000 anti-government protesters gathered at the Luneta.

Reporters asked her about the discrepancy in the numbers because the Plaza Miranda police posted on their white board and told media that as of 4:20 p.m. the crowd estimate in Plaza Miranda already reached 16,000.

MPD spokesperson Edwin Margarejo also told reporters that the rallyists in Plaza Miranda reached 15,000.

Asked if there was manipulation of numbers, Madrid said there was none but they will still verify the figures given by the MPD.

“Walang manipulation. May drone din kami na nag-take ng pictures, makikita naman talaga na pag frontal ang picture marami pero pag i-drone mo may butal butal,” Madrid said.

“Might as well ibe-verify natin kasi meron kang kopya na sila talaga nagsasabi of that number e sabi ko nga bakit contradicting yung sinasabi nila, sa sinasubmit nila sa amin,” she aded.

Earlier in the day, National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Oscar Albayalde said the rallies during the National Day of Protest were generally peaceful. —NB/JST, GMA News