Manila sets All Saints’ traffic scheme

The Manila city government has announced the temporary closure of some roads in the vicinity of the North Cemetery and Chinese Cemetery for the All Saints break.

From tomorrow to Nov. 3, Aurora Boulevard in Manila from Rizal Avenue up to the Dimasalang Circle will be closed to vehicles. Peripheral roads such as P. Guevarra, Leonor Rivera, Isagani, Blumentritt and Retiro as well as the portion of A. Bonifacio leading to Dimasalang Circle will also be closed.

Vehicular traffic coming from Caloocan going to Manila will be rerouted either to Abad Santos Avenue or Rizal Avenue. Motorists coming from Quezon City to Manila are also advised to take alternate routes such as Makiling (toward Dimasalang), España and A.H. Lacson.

The roads to be closed have been declared parking zones from tomorrow to Nov. 3.

Parallel parking will be allowed along Bulacan Street, Oroquieta and Felix Huerta Streets from Aurora Boulevard to Antipolo Street and also along the stretch of Leonor Rivera, Isagani and Karapatan Streets from Cavite Street to Antipolo Street.

From tomorrow to Sunday, vehicles will also be prohibited from entering cemeteries. Only emergency service vehicles such as ambulances, police cars and fire trucks are exempted from the ban.

Major thoroughfares within the vicinity of the cemeteries are no-vending areas, but vendors will be allowed along side streets.

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza said the city-owned and maintained South cemetery in Makati has also been prepared. He said Manila has allowed the use of ladders on the cemetery wall along Kalayaan Avenue as access points for people, with the clear understanding that the city government of Makati will provide security in the area.

The mayor reiterated that alcoholic beverages, gambling and deadly weapons are prohibited inside the cemeteries.

Meanwhile, at least 844 fresh police graduates will be deployed to combat criminality and prevent bombing threats during the All Saints Day celebration.

Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco said the training the new recruits, who completed a five-month Public Safety and Basic Recruitment Course in Camp Vicente Lim in Laguna, are fully prepared for the all-out war against lawless elements, particularly in the streets of the metropolis.

Velasco and his staff attended the commencement exercise of the new recruits yesterday and immediately distributed them to the five police districts in Metro Manila.

The Metro Manila police chief exhorted the 844 cops to keep in mind as their battlecry the mission of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. of "winning the streets, (and) keeping our families safe." – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Non Alquitran