Friday, January 04, 2008 Malacañang may open gates for fete
ANTICIPATING heavy traffic in downtown Cebu City this month because of the Sinulog, Acting Mayor Michael Rama will ask the Presidential Security Group (PSG) to open the Malacañang sa Sugbo gates for motorists.
Rama also ordered a widening of the South Road Properties (SRP) exit beside the Malacañang compound to ease traffic in the area.
From the two-lane South Coastal Road, the exit road is reduced to only one lane, causing traffic near the gate.
Kajima Construction, the contractor of the tunnel connecting the coastal road to S. Osmeña Blvd., agreed to widen the road, the acting mayor said.
He said he will ask the PSG to open the Malacañang sa Sugbo gates in time for the start of the Sinulog activities.
“We already anticipate heavy traffic in the area before the Sinulog that’s why we will ask them to open the gates. Malacañang should be opened. It’s supposed to be closed only when the President is here or there are official functions inside,” Rama told a news conference yesterday.
Meanwhile, the police force is ready to put in place additional security in case inmates, either from the Cebu City Jail or the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, are allowed to perform during the Sinulog.
Cebu City Police Chief Patrocinio Comendador said he would just wait for the Cebu City Government to decide on the requests from the administrators of both facilities.
A request from Capitol security consultant Byron Garcia for some provincial jail inmates to perform at the grandstand on Jan. 20 will be taken up today.
Comendador, however, said allowing the inmates to perform would add risks to the celebration.
“If they will be allowed to perform, we are ready (to provide security),” he said.
Comendador said the general security plan for the celebration, particularly the grand parade on Jan. 20, is already in place.
The city’s police force has been designated to handle security preparations, while the military’s Central Command will take charge of crowd control.
Among the top security concerns so far identified by the police is the participation of Alpha Kappa Rho and Tau Gamma Phi fraternities. (LCR/JST)
