MMDA to deploy 2,456 personnel for Undas

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will be fielding 2,456 personnel for “Oplan Kaluluwa 2014” from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2.

Most of the personnel are traffic constables who will be tasked to ensure the smooth flow of traffic on streets leading to cemeteries and bus terminals in Metro Manila, MMDA assistant general manager for operations Emerson Carlos said yesterday.

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

Public assistance centers will be set up in these cemeteries.

Carlos said ambulances will be on standby at the Manila North Cemetery, Loyola Memorial Park, Dangwa bus terminal in Manila, Philtranco bus terminal in Pasay City and at the Timog Rescue Base in Quezon City.

MMDA men will also be deployed near the North Cemetery in La Loma, Caloocan; Golden Haven in Las Piñas; Makati South Cemetery; Mandaluyong public cemetery; Tugatog public cemetery in Malabon; Barangka Cemetery in Marikina; Soldiers Hill in Muntinlupa; Navotas cemetery; Palanyag public cemetery in Parañaque; Pasay public cemetery; Baraks, Santolan and Roman Catholic Cemetery in Pasig; Garden of Memories, Aglipay Cemetery, San Joaquin Cemetery and San Roque Cemetery in Pateros; Quezon City public cemetery; San Juan Cemetery; Hagonoy Municipal Cemetery in Taguig, and Karuhatan, Arkong Bato in Valenzuela.

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

According to the MMDA, priority traffic points are the bus terminals in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City; Edsa-Cubao, Edsa-Pasay Taft, and Sampaloc, Manila; Edsa-Balintawak, Dangwa, Mindanao Avenue, and the Southwest Integrated Provincial Terminal, which services public utility buses plying the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas route.

“We are preparing for the exodus of travelers going to the provinces on Nov. 1 and 2,” Carlos said.

 Carlos yesterday met with officials from the various traffic management offices of local government units to iron out kinks in the implementation of Oplan Kaluluwa 2014.

 The MMDA will ask the Department of Public Works and Highways to suspend road works and re-blocking projects during the observance of All Saints Day and All Souls Day.