CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Traffic Office is bracing for the worst with the visit of the phenomenal AlDub tandem in the city tomorrow, Thursday.
The love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza will be in Cebu to promote their entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) together with Vic Sotto and Ai Ai delas Alas. They will be at SM Seaside City at 5 p.m.
Prior to this, however, the couple will join colleagues in the noontime show Eat Bulaga! at one of the barangays in the city for the “Juan For All, All For Juan” segment of the show. It was in this segment where their tandem was discovered.
“We are expecting traffic especially with the presence of GMA entertainment personalities (here in Cebu)… but there is no challenge that we cannot surpass. We will put our best foot forward, yet again,” said Cebu City Traffic Office acting executive director Rey Gealon.
The opening of SM Seaside City alone last November 27 got many motorists trapped in heavy traffic to and from the South Road Properties in considerable periods of time.
“We are expecting heavy traffic on account of the volume of vehicles that may be coming in… hopefully, the mall management can accommodate with dispatch all these vehicles in their parking spaces to avoid repetition of traffic havoc during its opening,” Gealon said.
In October, Richards’ visit to Gaisano Mactan drew an estimated crowd of 15,000.
Days after that, thousands of the pair’s fans trooped to the Philippine Arena in Bulacan during Eat Bulaga’s special presentation there. The 55,000-seating capacity arena was filled to the brim. That gathering also broke a Twitter record with at least 41 million tweets.
Still, Gealon is confident vehicle traffic will be manageable
“What we can assure of is that personnel are maximized to ensure lesser inconvenience for the motorists…more than a dozen of traffic personnel will augment our regular deployment there and with our SRP Mobile Team,” he said.
He advised private motorists to avoid the routes leading to SM Seaside City if they do not intend to go to the mall.
“For those who do not intend to be at SM Seaside, it is advised that they take alternative routes. Motorists are advised to divert to other roads going to their destination,” Gealon said. —/JMO (FREEMAN)