THE Philippine National Police (PNP) said that from an estimated 14,000 during their first rally on June 30, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) gathering at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on Thursday, July 2, has drawn only around 1,470 people.
INC members were supposed to hold their third day rally at EDSA in Quezon City, after initially securing a permit to gather at the People Power Monument. But their permit was later revoked by the Department of Public Order and Safety, prompting them to gather at the Liwasang Bonifacio, a freedom park in Manila.
The PNP said it has downgraded its status from full alert to heightened alert on Thursday, except in the National Capital Region (NCR) where protests are still being staged.
“The full alert status has been downgraded to heightened alert status for the rest of the country except for NCR which remains on full alert status,” PNP spokesman Col. Allen Rae Co said.
The PNP said the number of police officers deployed remained at 5,731.
On Monday, the PNP placed all of its units on full alert status after INC members went to the People Power Monument along White Plains Avenue in Quezon City to call for transparency in government, and condemn the impending filing of plunder charges against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta.
Security was also tightened in the Senate, Mendiola, Ayala Bridge, Liwasang Bonifacio, and the US Embassy.
