Cops note fewer SONA protesters; group blames gov’t ‘clampdown’

By Jennifer P. Rendon and Francis Allan Angelo

This year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) saw fewer protesters on major streets of the different cities and provinces in Western Visayas, according to the Western Visayas police.

Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 estimated that less than 700 individuals from different cause-oriented groups launched protest actions on Monday.

The number reportedly peaked at around 640 before 4 p.m., more than an hour before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his SONA.

The estimate was not even half the number of deployed police personnel for public safety and security purposes.

Around 1,430 police personnel were deployed for civil disturbance management (CEM) while hundreds were on standby.

Major Mary Grace Borio, PRO-6 spokesperson, said there could be several reasons why street protests have waned through the years.

“For Monday’s SONA, the weather condition might also be a factor,” she said.

Typhoon “Egay” (Doksuri) and southwest monsoon have brought cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms in Western Visayas.

Citing reports from the intelligence community, Borio said that cause-oriented groups have lost a good number of their supporters.

“The public is more aware now of the real picture. They are aware that social issues would not be solved by going out in the streets,” she said.

As of 5:30 p.m., PRO-6 reported that no significant or untoward incident happened.

Based on PRO-6 reports, 340 protesters showed up in Bacolod City.

Thirty of them protested along Barangay Bata, Bacolod City; 110 at Bangga Alijis; 100 in front of the CENECO Building; and 100 at the Capitol Lagoon.

In Iloilo City, there were around 170 protesters on the streets.

Most of them, or around 150, were at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol while around 10 were spotted at the flyover near the University of the Philippines-Iloilo City campus and another 10 at the Tagbak terminal in Jaro district.

In Capiz, around 100 rallyists held a protest action at the Roxas City Public Plaza.

In Aklan, there were 30 protesters at 19 Martys Street, Kalibo town.

Among the main issues brought during the protest actions were the traditional jeepney phaseout, prices of commodities, and minimum wage increase.

As other organizations went to the streets to protest, a pro-government group also took to the streets to air support to the government.

Around 389 members of the Sentrong Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Bayan (SAMBAYANAN-Western Visayas) conducted what they termed as a multi-sectoral mobilization dubbed as “Kahublagan Para sa Kalinong kag Kauswagan.”

The activity started with the Caravan for Peace, traversing major streets in Iloilo City and culminated at Sunburst Park, Iloilo City for a multi-sectoral program and ecumenical prayer.

CLAMPDOWN

Activists blamed local and national governments for what they claimed was a “clampdown on civic space and the widespread human rights violations across the country.”

In a statement, Panay Alliance Karapatan said that upon the recommendation of the PNP, “the Iloilo City government denied protesters a permit to march through city streets, limiting them to holding a rally only at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol. The reason cited: possible traffic congestion.”

“Even under the country’s draconian public assembly law that severely limits the right to protest – the martial law-era Batas Pambansa Bilang 880 – a permit to conduct a protest, even one that involves the use of public thoroughfares, may be denied or modified only if there is an imminent and grave danger of a substantive evil warranting the denial or modification. Traffic is and has never been a valid reason to prohibit a march,” the group added.

The group said protest marches are infrequent and do not cause the great “inconvenience” or “disturbance” the PNP or local government claim they seek to avoid.

“Even if they did, in the hierarchy of rights and freedoms, the right to protest occupies a favored place because it is the most potent tool in the citizenry’s limited arsenal to air their grievances and convey their sentiments on social issues. The right to protest is recognized as supreme compared to other rights, and definitely warrants the temporary inconvenience it may cause commuters.”

It also slammed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for allegedly “threatening drivers and operators planning to carry out a transport strike, to protest the impending jeepney phase-out, that they faced cancellation of their respective franchises and permits.”

“Still, the majority of drivers and operators in Panay stood their ground and pushed through with the transport strike. The strike affected numerous routes in the province and city of Iloilo, and even forced the Iloilo City government to cancel classes and reduce office hours.

Karapatan also called out the PNP for “harassing” protesters at the strike center in Iloilo City, claiming that they were prohibited from using placards and threatening to confiscate the protest material.

“There is no legal basis for such repressive acts. Holding placards and protesting at strike centers are well within the rights guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution. These do not require permits because such acts are facets of free speech and expression.”