MANILA, Philippines — Up to an estimated 1.8 million people are expected to visit the Manila North Cemetery and the Manila South Cemetery in this year’s observance of Undas, according to the cemeteries’ respective managements.
Around a million visitors could visit their departed loved ones at the Manila North Cemetery, while the Manila South Cemetery expects between 500,000 and 800,000 visitors.
From Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, when the two cemeteries will be open to the public from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., the Manila Police District (MPD) will deploy 395 policemen to secure the 54-hectare burial park in Sta. Cruz district, Manila North Cemetery administrator Roselle Castañeda said in an interview over radio station dzBB.
Some 150 more cops will guard the Manila South Cemetery in Makati City, according to its officer-in-charge Henry Dy in the same radio interview.
Vendors and food stalls, as well as vehicles, will be prohibited from entering the two cemeteries in the said period.
Instead, the city government will mobilize electric tricycles or e-trikes to fetch and bring the elderly, persons with disability and people carrying children to their respective areas.
Castañeda and Dy also reminded politicians and aspirants in the May 2025 midterm elections to avoid displaying and distributing paraphernalia inside the Manila North and South Cemeteries.