The Philippine National Police (PNP) will deploy 8,500 cops to secure activities for the 38th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution on Feb. 25 in the National Capital Region and Cebu.
“We are looking at two rallies. One in Cebu and the other rallies will be in Manila,” PNP chief Police General Benjamin Acorda Jr. said in an interview after the 123rd anniversary ceremony of the Manila Police District.
“In Cebu, we’re intending to deploy more or less 2,500 police personnel. In Metro Manila, more or less 6,000,” he added.
According to the PNP chief, the police force will provide maximum tolerance to the protesters but he reminded them to calm down during their programs.
So far, Acorda said that the police have not monitored any threat for the observation of the event.
Acorda, meanwhile, appealed to protesters and groups to conduct their activities peacefully.
“We will be exercising maximum tolerance pero sana wala naman manggugulo (but I hope nobody would sow chaos),” said Acorda.
He said police have not monitored any imminent security threats for the occasion.
“So far wala naman tayong nakikitang kumbaga nakakabahala (we don’t see anything that seems disturbing) except for the crowd. We expect but nevertheless, our PNP, the men on the ground, we are closely monitoring all the intelligence reports na natatanggap natin (that we are receiving) and we will be deploying accordingly,” Acorda said.
Feb. 25 is not included in the list of 2024 holidays released by Malacañang.
“The Office of the President maintains respect for the commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution. However, it was not included in the list of special non-working days for the year 2024 because February 25 falls on a Sunday,” the Office of the President earlier said.
“There is minimal socio-economic impact in declaring this day as a special non-working holiday since it coincides with the rest day for most workers and laborers,” it added.