Tarlac lawmen, volunteers assist motorists

CAMP MAKABULOS, Tarlac — Over 2,000 policemen and civilian volunteers have been fanned out to major thoroughfares in the province in anticipation of heavy traffic this Holy Week.

Chief Superintendent Maximo Calimlim, provincial police director, said traffic assistance teams are stationed in all entry points of the province, including this city and four towns, to attend to the needs of motorists and commuters.

The teams are deployed at the Bamban-Mabalacat and Concepcion-Magalang routes, which link Tarlac to Pampanga; the La Paz-Zaragoza route, which connects this city to Nueva Ecija; and the San Clemente-Mangatarem and San Manuel-Carmen junctions.

Other traffic assistance teams are in the towns of Concepcion, Capas, Paniqui and Camiling and this city.

The eastern provincial road network, which links the towns of Concepcion, La Paz, Victoria, Pura, Ramos and Paniqui, has also been opened to accommodate excess traffic from the MacArthur Highway.

Gov. Jose Yap Sr. also ordered that traffic be closely supervised along the western provincial road network that links the towns of Capas, San Jose, Sta. Ignacia, Camiling and San Clemente to ease bottlenecks that might develop along the Romulo Highway, which connects Tarlac to Manga—tarem, Pangasinan.

Calimlim said police personnel are backed up by civilian volunteers from radio communications groups, under a tie-up established by the Summer Vacation Assistance Committee (SUMVAC) of the provincial police.

He said the SUMVAC will work until April 16-17, when motorists and commuters who went up north during the Holy Week are expected to return to Manila.

Calimlim said the SUMVAC will be revived on Labor Day (May 1), when people troop to beaches in Northern Luzon, particularly in Pangasinan and La Union.