PNP: Deployment of 800 armed cops at INC rally due to miscommunication

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday the deployment of around 800 armed cops at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila during the first day of the rally of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) was due to miscommunication.

“Bagamat nagkamali 'yung ilang members ng PNP nagdala po sila ng armas, bagamat sila ay napasok doon sa perimeter na hindi dapat, ito po ay supposed to be para proteksyunan 'yung mga nagra-rally,” PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño said in a press briefing. 

(Although some members of the PNP made a mistake by bringing firearms and entering the perimeter where they should not be, this is supposed to be to protect the protesters.)

He said the cops who were deployed for augmentation only received a general instruction about their designation at the INC rally.

The concerned cops have been pulled out from the area and transferred outside Quirino Grandstand. 

Police officials and INC organizers already discussed the matter in a meeting.

The PNP noted that the deployment of cops at the INC rally was different compared to other protests as authorities considered the event organized by the religious group as “peaceful.”

INC organized a three-day rally from November 16 to 18 at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila to call for accountability amid the anomalous flood control projects in the government. 

On the first day of the protest Sunday, the Manila Police District (MPD) said the crowd reached 650,000 people at 6 p.m. 

Around 110,000 camped out overnight at the venue for the second day of the protest on Monday, according to the MPD. 

The crowd at Quirino Grandstand reached 220,000 at 12 noon, the MPD said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News