Sona 2026: Tension arises between protesters, PNP officers in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines — Ahead of the fifth State of Nation Address (Sona) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a heated argument between the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) group and the Philippine National Police personnel erupted Monday over a scheduling conflict during the demonstrators’ morning protest.

READ: WATCH: Protest rally to greet Marcos Sona

At around 8:40 a.m, Bayan Southern Tagalog and various groups in Philcoa began their march towards Commonwealth Avenue to hold three separate programs before the president’s annual address at the Batasang Pambansa Complex on Monday afternoon.

However, the Bayan-National Capital Region (NCR) stayed behind, insisting on waiting for its members, which started the dispute with the PNP officers deployed in the area. 

During the argument, a police official ordered the group to proceed to the main staging area in Commonwealth, further demanding that they leave after 30 minutes, or at 9:30 a.m.

He argued that the Bayan alliance had already conducted their program in the area earlier. 

Bayan-NCR spokesperson Alwen Santos dismissed PNP’s assertion, saying that their members had yet to start their program.

He added that the allotted time for the group to start holding its public demonstrations in Philcoa as approved by the Quezon City local government is 9:30 a.m. 

“Earlier, as you saw, we were nego (negotiating)—since we were still waiting for people to arrive. But the police insisted that, because they didn’t want to allow the program to proceed, the time had to start right then and run only until 9:30. Yet, 9:30 was actually supposed to be the start time of our program,” Santos said in an interview with Inquirer.

Quezon City Police District Public Information Office chief and spokesperson Maj. Jennifer Gannaban explained that according to Bayan’s permit, the group is scheduled to hold a rally from 7 a.m to 10 p.m, but at the New Capitol Estate in Commonwealth Avenue.

“Bayan’s permit covers the hours from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. However, the rally is supposed to be held at the New Capitol Estate. Since they do not have a permit for this (Philcoa) specific location, that is what we were enforcing earlier,” Gannaban said in a separate interview with Inquirer.

Members of the Bayan-NCR eventually moved at around 9:35 a.m to their next stop along Feria Road in Quezon City for the ‘Sona ng Bayan’ (Sona of the people) program. 

Santos reiterated that the group intends to call out and protest against government projects in Metro Manila, including the Pasig River Expressway, Waste to Energy project in Tondo, Manila, North-South Harbor bridge, among others, due to these projects’ environmental threats.

The multi-sectoral groups are scheduled to assemble in front of the New Capitol Estates last for the Sona ng Sambayanan (Sone of the citizens) program, coinciding with the president’s address at 4 p.m. /apl