Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) calls out Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, for his statements and threats against protesters in Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22. “The people have the right to protest the worsening crisis under this regime,” Bayan president Renato Reyes Jr said.

Gen. Marbil warned that the rallies set for the upcoming SONA should not “disrupt” the public. Reyes took issue with this and told Gen. Marbil that “the biggest inconvenience and burden in SONA is the incompetence of the regime, not the protesters.”

The PNP announced it will deploy 22,000 police to “ensure” Marcos Jr.’s SONA. Gen. Marbil superficially expressed that their personnel will observe “maximum tolerance” against the protesters, contrary to what they did in the past two SONAs.

In 2022, the PNP deployed 21,000 policemen to Quezon City for the first SONA. The police banned protesting along Commonwealth Avenue without basis and threatened the rallyists with arrest. The Quezon City local government only granted a limited permit to the rally after the organizations asserted their right to peaceful assembly.

On that day, police arrested and detained young Lumad brothers Ismael and Mawing Pangadas who participated in the protest in Davao City. They were released in May 2023, after 10 months in prison.

Meanwhile in 2023, Quezon City police charged members of Bayan and Bayan-Southern Tagalog for participating in the rally in the second SONA.

Max Santiago and three other Bayan members were then charged with violating the Clean Air Act (Republic Act No. 8749) when they burned the effigy. Meanwhile, 12 activists from Southern Tagalog were charged with violating the Public Assembly Act of 1985 (National Law No. 880). These cases were dismissed for lack of sufficient grounds.

Amid all these, Bayan and various mass organizations are determined to march and protest Marcos Jr’s third SONA. They will once again highlight in the so-called SONA ng bayan the true condition of the people including the lack of adequate wages, decent jobs and proper social services. They will highlight the theme “Sa Bagong Pilipinas, Pilipino Lalong Naghihirap!” in said the July 22 mass protest.