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[av_heading heading=’ SONA rallies peaceful – PRO-6 ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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ILOILO City – The militants’ rallies in this city on Monday afternoon timed with the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Rodrigo Duterte was “generally peaceful,” according to the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
“There were no SONA-related incidents and no violence,” said PRO-6 spokesperson Superintendent Gilbert Gorero.
He placed the combined number of participants in two separate rallies at the Freedom Grandstand and at the vicinity of the Iloilo provincial capitol at 800.
“Our policemen were properly deployed to maintain peace and order in the city,” said Gorero.
The rallies started around 1 p.m. and dispersed around 3:30 p.m., some 30 minutes before Duterte delivered his second SONA at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
Days earlier, the leaders of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Panay and Alab Katipunan were told to make sure their rallies were non-violent.
The Iloilo City Police Office observed the no permit, no rally policy and mobilized its Civil Disturbance Management Unit.
In their contra-SONA called “SONA sang Pumuluyo” (SONA of the People), rallyists condemned extrajudicial killings, the militarization of countrysides, slow agrarian reform, and extension of martial law in Mindanao.
“Nothing substantial has changed under the Duterte regime. The same neoliberal policies of deregulation, privatization, liberalization, and denationalization are being implemented. Issues such as labor contractualization, non-living wage, inaccessible education, and agrarian reform, among others, are still here,” said Elmer Forro, Bayan-Panay secretary-general.
Across Western Visayas, the PRO-6 and Armed Forces of the Philippines mobilized a combined 13,000 policemen and soldiers yesterday./PN
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