By Aaron Recuenco For the whole day, all the 8,500 policemen who were deployed to secure the State of the Nation Address (SONA) were relaxed and even had the time to joke around and watch the speech of President Duterte. NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar meets with Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes after what they both describe as peaceful conduct of SONA protests in Quezon City (PHOTO VIA AARON RECUENCO) "The protest action was generally peaceful. There was no untoward incident that happened and we are thankful for that," said Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO). Eleazar attributed the peaceful conduct of the protest actions to the organizers of the rally whom he said have kept their word that they would honor everything that had been agreed upon during the series of pre-SONA consultations. It was Eleazar who initiated the dialogue with various anti-Duterte groups in order to come up with a common ground that would eventually prevent violent confrontations between the protesters and the policemen. Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes also attributed the peaceful conduct of their protest action to the dialogues. "We thank General Eleazar for initiating the dialogue and this peaceful rally only proves na lahat nadadaan sa mabuting usapan," said Reyes. He added that they really observed what was agreed upon including the agreement that they would help clean the areas that they occupied. "Nakita niyo naman na talagang malinis nung umalis kami," he told reporters in an interview with Eleazar. Eleazar, for his part, said that they gave in to almost all the request of the anti-Duterte forces, including a choice of the place where they would hold their program. "I really attribute it to the dialogue. Maganda talaga ang naidudulot kapag maganda ang usapan," said Eleazar. He said that the dialogue is also based on the premise that protesters themselves do not want to clash with policemen. And in order to further de-escalate any scenario of confrontation, Eleazar said that he made sure that all the shields and truncheons were hidden from the view of the protesters since a scene of truncheon and shield-wielding cops usually has a psychological impact on the behavior of the protesters. "I told them that shields and truncheons would only be used if they break our agreement for a peaceful rally," said Eleazar. In addition, he said he also made sure a free march of the protesters by prohibiting the use of shipping containers and barbed wire just like what happened in the past. The NCRPO estimated that there were more or less 10,000 protesters from both pro and anti-Duterte forces. The anti-Duterte organizers, on the other hand, claimed that they reached 40,000. Eleazar also thanked his men for their sacrifices and for following his order to observe maximum tolerance.