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Thursday, April 13, 2006
Police, transport officials cope with Lent travel rush
CEBU CITY -- A heightened alert has been raised in the entire Central Visayas Region, as devotees are expected to pack the Roman Catholic churches and hundreds head to the beaches for Holy Week.
In Cebu, the areas prioritized for security are Bantayan Island, Barangay Guadalupe in Cebu City, major bus terminals and ports.
Agents from the Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Traffic Management Group have put up assistance booths in both north and south bust terminals in Cebu City to prevent the overloading of passengers.
LTFRB and LTO personnel may also issue special permits authorizing buses to ply outside their travel line, should the number of passengers increase.
There are also �help desks� in Cebu City�s pier area, Bantayan and the Mactan airport.
Airport terminals were overcrowded Wednesday, with hundreds of �chance passengers" who decided to travel at the last minute.
Airport manager Adelberto Yap said that Sea Air and Asian Spirit, as well as the management of charter aircraft, have requested MCIAA for extra "section flights" for Boracay and Bantayan Island.
Cebu Pacific also requested additional flights for the Cebu-Manila route.
Cebu Provincial Police Director Vicente Loot sent an eight-man team to the Cebu City South Bus Terminal to augment the private blue-collared security personnel that are securing the area.
The Mandaue City Police Office, meanwhile, has been assigned to secure the Cebu North Bus Terminal.
In both terminals, personnel from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agencies (PDEA) 7 sent four K-9 dogs to help in the detection of explosives.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Loot, and transportation officials in the region went to the south bus terminal at 11 a.m. Wednesday to personally supervise the implementation of security measures and crowd control.
Garcia reminded bus operators or drivers to police their own ranks.
She warned bus drivers or operators found to have engaged in overloading may no longer be allowed to use the terminal.
South bus terminal administrator Emmanuel Guial told Sun.Star Cebu that passengers usually converge at 5 p.m. or after office hours and early morning.
Guial said they have prepared railings to guide passengers in lining up to the buses.
One company from the Regional Mobile Group (RMG), two K-9 dogs from PDEA, and a team from the provincial police left Wednesday for Bantayan Island to secure the area.
For the famous "Sugat" in Minglanilla on Sunday, a security team has also been designated with six PDEA K-9 dogs for security.
Cebu City Police Director Melvin Gayotin, meanwhile, said that apart from an augmentation force from the RMG, civilian support groups, such as the barangay intelligence network, parish security group and barangay tanods, will also help the police in securing the different religious sites in the city.
Anticipating that more people will watch the traditional Buhing Kalbaryo in Barangay Guadalupe with the live crucifixion of Gilbert Bargayo, Gayotin said that one company from RMG will augment the Guadalupe Police Station.
Last year, at least 15,000 people witnessed the Buhing Kalbaryo, Gayotin said.
Medical and police assistance centers will also be placed near the Guadalupe Parish, Gayotin said.
Police will also secure the Good Shepherd Garden in Banawa, Guadalupe, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral where Cebu archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal will lead the recitation of the Seven Last Words, and other churches in the city.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Eduardo Gador and Gayotin, however, reminded all the faithful and those who will be spending the holidays in the beaches to secure their houses from burglars before leaving. (JST/With EOB/Sun.Star Cebu)
(April 13, 2006 issue)
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