MMDA to deploy 2,000 men for 'Oplan Kaluluwa'

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will be fielding more than 2,000 personnel for “Oplan Kaluluwa 2013” starting October 25 to November 4.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said majority of the personnel are traffic constables who will be tasked to ensure the smooth flow of traffic along major thoroughfares and identified traffic-prone areas in Metro Manila.

Tolentino said priority traffic points are the bus terminals in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City; Edsa-Cubao, Edsa-Pasay Taft, and Sampaloc, Manila; Edsa-Balintawak, Dangwa, and Mindanao Avenue.

Additional traffic personnel will also be deployed to the Southwest Integrated Provincial Terminal (SWIPT), which services public utility buses that ply the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas route.

“Our focus is to keep traffic flowing by strictly implementing our existing traffic laws and clear the roads and sidewalks leading to and from the cemeteries,” Tolentino said.

He said four major cemeteries – the Manila North, Manila South, Loyola Memorial Park in Manila and Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City – will also be tightly watched to prevent major traffic jams.

Traffic constables on E-Wheels or electric powered scooters will be patrolling these cemeteries and its immediate vicinities, he said.

Aside from the traffic constables and roving teams of the agency’s Traffic Discipline Office (TDO), augmentation personnel from the Anti-Jaywalking Unit and Over Speeding will also be tapped for traffic management purposes.

Members of the Task Force Illegal Terminal, Parking Discipline Group, Towing and Impounding Group will also be fielded to clear major roads and sidewalks of all forms of obstructions, including illegally parked vehicles.

For traffic monitoring, the MMDA will field its “Agila 1” and “Agila 2” mobile command centers, which are capable of sending real-time video footages to the MMDA’s Command and Communications Center in Makati City.

The Road Emergency Group, on the other hand, will set up Public Assistance Centers with tents and ambulances at the four major cemeteries to provide emergency medical services to cemetery goers.

Tolentino said members of the Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (SCOG) will also be utilized to assist commuters at bus terminals and ensure the orderliness of the roads and sidewalks.

"This is an all-out effort of the MMDA, in coordination with other government agencies and local government units, to maintain order in the streets on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, and, of course, to assist the public, especially those going to and from the cemeteries,” Tolentino said.