Cops appeal to Sona rallyists: Bring your own garbage bag

Members of the Eastern Police District District Mobile Force Batallion hold simulation exercises in preparation for the upcoming State of Nation Adrress of President Rodrigo Duterte on July 23, 2018.
inquirer.net

THE chief of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) yesterday appealed to State of the Nation Address (Sona) demonstrators to clean up the garbage that might arise during their rallies.

QCPD Director Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel Jr. asked demonstrators, both protesters and supporters, to bring their own garbage bag for easier collection of trash after their respective programs.

“My challenge to the rallyists, both the protesters and pro-administration, is you bring your own garbage bag, you put all your garbage there,” Esquivel said in Filipino in a chance interview in Commonwealth, Quezon City.

“We will designate a certain point of collection at after naman nitong activity mabilis tayong mag-normalize [ang traffic] at malinis ang lugar, at tulong na rin natin sa kalikasan (and after this activity, we can quickly normalize the traffic and clean up the place, and to contribute to our environment),” he added.

The idea, however, is not new as protesters do it every Sona rally, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. said.

“We already do that every Sona,” Reyes told Inquirer.net.

A larger crowd of protesters is expected to fill the Commonwealth Avenue this year for President Rodrigo Duterte’s third Sona on Monday as pressing issues about rising prices of goods, killings and human rights violations hog the headlines.

Dubbed as People’s Sona, the rally this year will be held in front of St. Peter’s Parish Chapel, about two kilometers away from Batasang Pambansa Complex, and around 20,000 people are expected to join the protest.