No bulletproof popemobile for Francis

MANILA, Philippines - Pope Francis wants to hear “the cries of people” on the streets and will be using two open and non-bulletproof popemobiles when he visits the country in January.

This is to make him accessible to Filipinos, a church official explained yesterday.

Francis himself requested that the popemobiles should be vulnerable, open and accessible because these traits represent the Catholic Church, according to Fr. David Concepcion, executive secretary of the Papal Visit Committee on Transportation.

“It will be open so he would be able to hear the cries of the people. It will be a reminder to us that the church listens to those on the streets,” Concepcion said.

“It will have no air condition. Whatever the people (attending the papal events) are feeling, he will also feel. So if it will rain and the people will get wet, he will also get wet,” he added.

One popemobile will be used in Manila, while the other car would be sent to Tacloban City, which the pontiff will also visit.

“If there would only be one popemobile there would not be enough time to transport it from Manila to Tacloban,” Concepcion explained.

Jess Anthony Yu, Presidential Communications Operations Office’s undersecretary for legislative, policy and legal affairs, said the use of non-bulletproof cars for the papal visit “would not be a security nightmare because the government is considering the popemobile that the pope would be using.”

“We are also not only focusing on the popemobile but also on the route that he would be passing through. We are considering everything,” he added.

Malacañang will be tapping the Presidential Security Group, Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to ensure the security of the pontiff. They also coordinated with the Swiss Guards, the personal security force of the pope.

Since Pasay will be the first city to receive Pope Francis when he arrives at the Villamor Airbase, the local government of Pasay has formed a task force to help ensure peace and order during the papal visit.

Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto said the task force is composed of the core group of the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

The Department of Public Works and Highways, for its part, will install physical barricades in the middle of the street to separate the crowd from the road space for the popemobile.

“There is only one way to the airport, so if the streets would be crowded, he might not be able to pass. Half of the road would be given to the people and we are praying that they would not occupy the other half of the road,” said Monsignor Bernie Pantin, person-in-charge of the Tacloban leg of the papal visit.

Asked if there would be a helicopter on standby at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City in case people block the road and prevent the pope from proceeding, Yu said “we are considering that but for security reasons we could not tell.”

‘Papal visit cause of excitement’

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said Pope Francis’ arrival in a few weeks has given Filipinos another reason to be excited about Christmas this year.

This is the gist of Villegas’ Simbang Gabi message yesterday.  With Persues Echeminada, Eva Visperas