Road closures, traffic rerouting and thousands of policemen will greet motorists and commuters on Monday morning, July 22, in some parts of Quezon City as the Philippine National Police (PNP) starts to strictly implement security measures for the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Marcos.

In securing the SONA, the PNP will be keeping an eye on protesters who are expected to force their way into the nearest possible area of the Batasan Pambansa where Marcos will deliver his speech.

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the plan is to ensure a safe distance between anti-Marcos protesters and Marcos supporters who are expected to conduct their respective programs before and after the SONA.

“There will be road closure and traffic rerouting in some roads leading to and from the Batasan Pambansa as part of the security measures that we will be laying down for the SONA,” said Fajardo.

While there is already a security template for SONA, Fajardo said commanders on the ground are expected to make some minor adjustments, the focus is on the presence and number of protesters in the area.

As of Sunday, July 21, there is still no report if any group was given a permit by the local government of Quezon City to hold protest actions but the PNP is expecting their presence with or without the permit. 

“History would tell us that even without permit, they will still hold protest action so that is one of our anticipations in our contingency plan, that is the reason our CDM (Civil Disturbance Management) personnel will be there in case of any trouble,” said Fajardo.

In the case of the anti-Marcos protesters, Fajardo said the plan is to ensure that the farthest they could reach is the Tandang Sora area while the pro-Marcos rallyists would be allowed until the Sandiganbayan area.

No threat

Fajardo said their latest monitoring revealed that there is no serious threat for the Monday SONA.

But she appealed to the protesters to police their own ranks in order to prevent their groups from being infiltrated by troublemakers.

“They should police their own ranks because there might be some individuals who may cause trouble,” said Fajardo. 

“We are anticipating all possibilities and that’s why we have a contingency plan,” she added.

More than 22,000 policemen have been deployed since Friday for the SONA. 

The PNP has already activated the Task Force Metro Manila Shield to secure the National Capital Region from any serious threat—part of the measure is to conduct border control checkpoints in nearby provinces.

Police forces in Metro Manila were also placed under highest security alert status while a gun ban was implemented as early as Saturday, July 20.

On the part of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), more than 1,300 policemen will be deployed to assist in the traffic management, especially in areas where there would be road closures and traffic rerouting.