The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Monday said it is planning to deploy at least 15,000 officers to secure the upcoming Nov. 30 anti-corruption rally.
The Trillion Peso March Movement announced the next mass protest-action-which coincides with the birth anniversary of revolutionary Andres Bonifacio-in a bid to sustain its campaign against government corruption, following the Sept. 21 demonstrations.
‘As part of our preparations for the second Trillion Peso March on November 30, we have an allocated number of people to deploy. In fact, we have 15,000 personnel to be deployed,’ NCRPO spokesperson Maj. Hazel Asilo said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview on state television PTV.
‘The NCRPO is continuously preparing. We have a ready reserve force. We also have deployed personnel at the identified areas where there will be gatherings,’ Asilo added.
She further noted that the Metro Manila police was also coordinating with the organizers and the local government units with jurisdiction over the areas in which the protests are planned.
Asilo added that the NCRPO was also monitoring the groups it suspects to have ‘instigated’ the violent incidents during the Sept. 21 rallies.
The violence erupted at the Ayala Bridge and the Mendiola Peace Arch, leaving two dead and over 200 arrested – 90 of whom were minors, which prompted human rights groups to condemn the police for not exercising maximum tolerance.
The Trillion Peso March also said it was holding weekly protest actions leading up to the Nov. 30 rally, for which the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it was on alert.