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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Accident, slow response team prompt second dry run
By Mia E. Abellana
With Oscar C. Pineda
CEBU CITY -- Slow responses and an accident led organizers of the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit to hold a second dry run Tuesday afternoon.
Task Force Cebu Commander Silverio Alarcio Jr. told reporters that some gaps noted in the dry run were attributed to some members of the convoy who were not present during the first dry run last December 1.
Sun.Star Network Online's 12th Asean Summit Watch
Also, those trained to monitor the images on the surveillance cameras were not present.
Alarcio said they were not organized in monitoring the cameras because the technical people from Triton and the policemen trained for the purpose were not present during the rehearsal.
During the summit, the monitors will be viewed for 24 hours and the footage will be recorded.
The task force intentionally placed "stalled vehicles" along the ceremonial route to check how fast their teams can respond and get these out of the road before the convoys pass.
Alarcio said he was not satisfied as there was one instance where the response time reached 40 minutes.
"O, ano 'yan? Malapit na ang convoy nandiyan pa yan? (What's that vehicle still doing there? The convoy is approaching)," Alarcio commented while watching the exercise.
It took security forces about 13 minutes to reach another stalled car.
Alarcio observed the dry run from the tactical operations center (TOC) at the old Uniwide warehouse, across the Cebu International Convention Center.
He said the slow response time was because there was only one tow truck available in the Lapu-Lapu City side.
Senior Superintendent Drusilo Bolodo said that on the dates of the summit, they will rent more tow trucks. They did not rent more tow trucks for the rehearsal to save on expenses.
There were also some drivers who were not part of the first dry run.
All convoys were given three days to practice their movements so they all go smoothly.
Each convoy consists of personnel from the Philippine National Police, Department of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Security Group.
"One of the comments was that drivers, security officers, liaisons and protocol officers should sit and smoothen out their coordination," Alarcio explained.
The task force also observed that even if they instructed that all roads should be closed, there were still some motorists who defied traffic personnel and continued to enter the ceremonial route.
Some jeepney drivers refused to stop, he added.
This is why two motorcycle-riding policemen met an accident in escorting a convoy.
Alarcio is appealing to all motorists and pedestrians to respect the convoy and get out of the way if a convoy is passing.
"Residents should avoid crossing during convoy runs. And for motorcycles, makisama na lang tayo. Stop when the convoy is moving," Alarcio said.
There was also a problem with synchronization in the opening and closing of the roads.
While they instructed the closing of the roads at 9:10 a.m., some roads in the Cebu City side were closed at 9:25 a.m.
He said the roads were ordered open at 9:35 but some were not reopened until almost 10 a.m.
He also wants the convoys to slow down in critical points in the ceremonial routes.
They will be marking down these points and will have more policemen deployed near these points to forewarn approaching convoys.
"Sweepers" or policemen assigned to clear the areas will be sent, to check the stretch of the ceremonial routes and make sure these are cleared before convoys pass.
There was also a lack of personnel on the streets.
Alarcio said he will ask the police chiefs of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu to review their deployment and to check if some of their personnel did not report for duty.
Overall, though, he said the dry run went fairly well, even better than the last dry run.
"In general, okay naman. But it is better if we correct these gaps," Alarcio said.
Cebu will be placed on full alert at 6 a.m. Wednesday and will remain under that status until the last head of state leaves the province.
Reporters also noticed that in their situation board, the convoys of Laos and France took several minutes longer to arrive compared to the others.
Alarcio, though, said the convoys got to the CICC on time. There was only a problem with relaying communication to the TOC.
In Lapu-Lapu City, the dry run also proceeded smoothly, despite minor glitches at a chokepoint near the airport and the lack of tow trucks.
These can be ironed out in no time, said SPO3 Bonifacio Sumalinog, the city's traffic chief.
During the dry run, Lapu-Lapu City Police Chief Louie Oppus noticed some businessmen threatened to sue the policemen if they suffered business losses.
"Stick to the orders," Oppus told his operatives.
Lapu-Lapu City has seven traffic choke points, including the bridges; Matumbo road, which is near the airport; the Maribago junction in Barangay Mactan; and the Angacil access road near Shangri-la and Punta Engaño.
Sumalinog said the narrow alternative road to the airport, Matumbo road, was the most congested among all choke points in the city.
They tried to solve this by designating an alternative route going inside the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base to the airport. (Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (January 10, 2007 issue)
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