PNP Deploys Nearly 16,000 Officers in Metro Manila for Martial Law Anniversary Protests
The PNP deployed roughly 15,746 personnel across Metro Manila, with thousands more nationwide, for rallies marking the 54th anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s 1972 martial law declaration.
The Philippine National Police deployed an estimated 15,746 personnel across Metro Manila on September 21, with roughly 6,000 more in augmentation from Central Luzon and Calabarzon and over 17,000 nationwide, ahead of rallies marking the 54th anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s declaration of martial law in 1972.
Officers were directed to go unarmed and camera-equipped under the PNP's "maximum tolerance" policy toward demonstrators, and barricades went up around Ayala Bridge in Manila starting the evening before. PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. urged both organizers and his own officers toward mutual restraint and respect for freedom of speech and assembly.
Planned activities included a "Bahain ng Protesta" gathering at Liwasang Bonifacio in the afternoon, a march by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan coalition toward Mendiola, and an evening candle-lighting ceremony at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial in Quezon City, which honors martyrs and heroes of the martial law era.
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