Thousands of policemen have been deployed in Batasan Pambansa complex in Quezon City early Monday to secure the area for the 8th State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Arroyo, a police official said.
Director Geary Barias, head of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said an estimated 3,000 policemen will secure Batasan complex. Some of the policemen were deployed in the area as early as 4 a.m.
“Around the Batasan area, 3,000 combined NCRPO members and police officers from different regions will be deployed. I assure you that these policemen will exercise maximum tolerance. We’ve undergone a two-day seminar conducted by the Commission on Human Rights just for that,” Barias told ABS-CBN’s Umagang Kay Ganda.
Other policemen have also been deployed in Mendiola, he added.
The NCRPO chief said authorities have not received reports of threats but he assured that they will continue to monitor the peace and order situation.
An estimated 10,000 protestors are expected to stage demonstrations in various parts of Metro Manila to coincide with Mrs. Arroyo’s SONA. Barias said police are expecting 5,000 to 7,000 ralliers to converge near Batasan Monday morning.
“I believe that the demonstrations will be more peaceful this year compared to last year, considering that we held a dialogue with leaders of left-leaning groups in the office of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. prior to this event,” he said.
Lawmakers are expected to start arriving at the newly refurbished Batasan Pambansa Monday morning.