MANILA, Philippines – The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has readied measures to secure 98 private and public cemeteries in Metro Manila during the All Saints’ Day celebration on Nov. 1, a police official said Friday.
Under the NCRPO’s Oplan Ligtas Undas, vehicles would be banned from cemeteries while the public was urged to refrain from bringing firearms, deadly weapons and liquor while visiting their departed loved ones, NCRPO director Chief Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said.
He directed Metro Manila’s five district directors and 38 station commanders to strictly implement their security deployment on the cemeteries to ensure the safety of Metro Manilans during the occasion.
According to Pagdilao, they would not only secure cemeteries on Nov. 1, but also places frequented by the public like the Light Railway Transit and Metro Rail Transit stations, bus terminals, airports, seaports and other economic key points or vital installations.
“We would be in every nook and corner of the metropolis on All Saints’ Day not only to secure Filipinos visiting their departed loved ones but also to ease traffic in the vicinity of cemeteries,” said Pagdilao in an interview.
The NCRPO chief said they would set up public assistance desks in every cemetery in Metro Manila, except for the Manila Memorial Park, which would have three PADs, and the Manila North Cemetery and Manila South Cemetery with two each.
He said patrol cars and ambulances from the Department of Health or local government units (LGUs) would complement the PADs for quick response during emergencies.
The PADs would help guide the public to their destinations and also help motorists and commuters find their way to parking lots set to be erected in the vicinity of cemeteries.
Pagdilao also directed his district directors and station commanders to coordinate with LGUs and their local traffic units for the deployment of road safety marshals in strategic areas along routes to and fro the cemeteries and other areas of convergence.
He added that bomb experts and bomb-sniffing dogs will be deployed should the need arise.