City starts “Kalag-Kalag” 2024 preparations, action force eyed

CEBU, Philippines — To ensure a peaceful observance of “Kalag-Kalag 2024”, the Cebu City government is eyeing a multi-agency committee to serve as action force.

Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia announced on Monday that he will issue a memorandum to the city administrator to formalize the creation of the committee.

It will be composed of the various departments of the city government-- Department of Public Services (DPS), Peace and Program (POP), Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), Cebu City Health Department and the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO).

Garcia said the action force will also include Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD), local police, auxiliary forces, and cemetery administrators, among others. The action force will convene starting October 30 until November 4, 2024.

As early as yesterday, Garcia said they have already mapped out a designated area for the vendors and parking spaces at the vicinity of the cemeteries.

The mayor said they will also talk with the administrators of the cemeteries as well as those who are maintaining the areas to resolve concerns about informal settlers.

“It will really depend on the administrators maintaining the particular cemetery og unsa ilang plano but of course, we are very willing to work with them,” said Garcia.

For the installation of CCTV cameras around the cemeteries, Garcia said that this falls under the prerogative and jurisdiction of each cemetery administrator. He added that this is also the reason why cemetery administrators were included in the action force.

According to Garcia, this will be the first action force of the Cebu City Hall intended to oversee the observance of Kalag-Kalag.

“Para hapsay ang…kalinaw atoang mga minteryo specially on 1 and 2. The traffic should be manageable, the flow of people going to and from the cemetery should be manageable. Mahadlok baya ta aning maghuot magkagubot…maka cause og stampede. All of these should be taken care of so that there will no longer be untoward incidents nga mahitabo,” said Garcia.

There are at least 27 cemeteries that the city will be monitoring including in the upland areas. — (FREEMAN)