MANILA City Mayor Joseph Estrada on Tuesday assured the safety of the public during the planned protest actions on Thursday, marking the declaration of martial law in 1972.
Estrada directed the Manila Police District (MPD) to ensure it has enough security units on the ground to maintain peace and order before, during and after the demonstrations scheduled at Rizal Park.
“The safety of the public is our paramount concern here, and also of the rally participants and the policemen,” he said. “We will have sufficient men on the ground and our emergency units have all been placed on standby.”
As instructed by Estrada, MPD director Chief Supt. Joel Coronel said about 1,400 policemen from MPD and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will be deployed to secure Manila during the September 21 martial- law anniversary.
“So far, we have not yet received information on how many groups or people will be joining the protest rally. But we will be deploying close to 1,400 Philippine National Police [PNP] personnel for that, to secure the Luneta Park in the event they will push through with their grand rally on September 21,” the MPD chief said in an interview.
The security contingent is composed of 600 men from the MPD, with the rest coming from the NCRPO as an augmentation force.
Coronel also disclosed that, so far, there are no reports of any serious security threats on Thursday. “None so far. In fact, as announced by the President, he will allow these rallies and recognize the right of the people and the public to express their grievances. He said he would allow them to conduct their rallies in that area,” he said.
The MPD chief added the policemen will only basically conduct traffic management and crowd control in case an untoward incident will happen on that day.
“So we will just be in the sidelines, hopefully, for this,” he said.
Coronel added there will be no additional security for Malacañang on Thursday. There will only be the usual protocol during certain occasions such as this, when asked if additional security in Malacañang will be made beyond the usual.
“There will only be normal security deployment [in Malacañang on September 21], with the PSG [Presidential Security Group] and the MPD,” he said.
“We will just maintain our alert status, a full-alert status. And most likely the access roads leading to and from Malacañang will be closed and redirected. Only those authorized will be allowed,” he added.
Coronel said police deployment will be made as early as 5 a.m. on September 21.
Various groups have manifested support and their presence for the envisioned massive protest on Thursday, such as the Movement Against Tyranny Alliance (MAT), led by Sen. Rene Saguisag, former Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, former Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada, Free Legal Assistance Group Chairman Jose Manuel Diokno, militant nun Sr. Mary John Mananzan, Iglesia Filipina Independiente Obispo Maximo Rev. Rhee Timbang, and University of the Philippines Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan, among others.
Citing alleged similarities between former President Ferdinand E. Marcos and President Duterte, MAT hopes to unite “all freedom-loving Filipinos against tyranny and build a broad front to counter the increasing fascism and militarist rule of the Duterte administration.”
“The movement aims to break the culture of impunity and the fear, silence and acquiescence that have followed President Duterte’s brutal ‘war on drugs’, ‘all-out war’ approach to armed conflicts and declaration of martial law in Mindanao. These strong-arm methods have led to the gangland-style killings of thousands of mostly poor drug suspects and the summary execution of scores of activists from the ranks of peasants and indigenous peoples,” MAT said in a statement.
To struggle against these “tyrannical” methods of the current government, the group calls on the public to take to the streets and march to Rizal Park “in solidarity and in peace, to show our opposition to the state-perpetrated extrajudicial killings and President Duterte’s dangerous drift toward authoritarian rule.”
“Let this year’s anniversary of Marcos’s declaration of martial law be a drawing of the line against the emergence of a new dictatorship. We shall gather at the Luneta from 4 to 8 p.m. united in one call: Stop the killings, never again to tyranny and dictatorship,” the alliance said.