The Philippine National Police (PNP) lauded all its personnel, soldiers and other force multipliers from various government agencies for their contributions in what it described as peaceful, orderly and successful inauguration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. on Thursday, June 30, at the National Museum in Manila.
Police Maj. Gen. Valeriano De Leon, PNP director for operations, said the hard work and sacrifices of all those who secured the event paid off since there was no reported any significant incident at the span of the ceremony.
"Indeed, all will be well if everything is planned well. "The inauguration of our new President, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., is peaceful, orderly, and successful," said De Leon.
"But we would not be able to do it without the hard work and sacrifices of everybody who took part as early as in the planning up to the last-minute implementation of the security measures," he added.
More than 5,000 supporters of Marcos trooped to the golf course fronting the National Museum where public viewing of the ceremony was allowed. The number did not increase as security forces implemented a lockdown of the venue at 9 a.m.
De Leon, who personally supervised the implementation of the security plan for the inauguration on the part of the PNP, said 13 large LED televisions were set up at the gold course in order to ensure that the live coverage of the event would be seen at the golf course.
The formal ceremony started at 11:30 a.m. at the National Museum, which the police said, was attended by around 800 VIPs and foreign visitors. The ceremony ended at 12:30 p.m., according to the PNP.
Protesters too
De Leon also extended the same expression of gratitude to the protesters, whom he said, held their programs in a peaceful manner.
"Like what I have been saying before, there would be no unnecessary confrontation if we respect one another and we adhere to what we are all asked for," said De Leon.
More or less 1,000 people held a protest action at the Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila, one of the four freedom parks set by the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the rallyists.
Based on the monitoring of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the protesters are members of various militant groups such as Karapatan, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Bayan Muna and Anakpawis.
Among the issues raised by the protesters are press freedom, the Coco Levy Fund, accountability of those involved in corruption in the past and human rights-related issues.
Around 80 members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan also held protest action in Naga City.
"There were no significant incidents relating to the inauguration and we attribute it to everybody who took part in the planning and implementing our security plan, as well as to our kababayan who cooperated with us and understood the strict security measures that we implemented," said De Leon.