WITH the unprecedented success in clearing sidewalk obstructions and the aggressive clamping of illegally parked vehicles, it is high time that the administration of Mayor Edgardo Labella considered the establishment of public mortuaries to avoid another kind of annoying street interference.
Although the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) memorandum that orders local government units (LGU) to reclaim the streets from illegal structures did not specify roadside chapels being used for wakes as among those to be removed, in essence it falls within the description of the word “obstruction.”
The third sentence of the first paragraph of DILG Memorandum 2019-121 directed LGUs to develop strategies to address the displacement caused by the implementation of the memorandum, in a way directs the mayor to provide a solution on the holding of street wakes.
I am glad about the announcement of the mayor that he has a plan to address the livelihood problems of the displaced sidewalk vendors without violating the DILG directive and hopefully the mayor will also introduce solution to the problem of the roadside wake.
Wakes held in roadside chapels in the city blocked both sidewalks and the streets, especially if they put up tents right in front of the chapel preventing people and motor vehicles to safely navigate to their respective destinations.
Pedestrians will have to veer themselves away from the obstruction or else walk through tables and chairs beneath the tents usually utilized for card games and mahjong while the motorists will have to slow down to negotiate the constricted road.
Last week, I passed by a roadside wake and rolled down my window to ask a tanod standing near C. Padilla Street behind the San Nicolas church and Pahina San Nicolas barangay hall to inquire about the presence of the tent that occupies a substantial part of the four-lane street. The tanod informed me that they have a permit for putting up the obstruction.
I did not have the time to clarify who issued the permit allowing obstruction on the busy street 24 hours a day during the entire time that the wake was held. Despite the failure to determine on whose authority the permit was given, I believed him on that matter.
What is more outrageous is that during the day, while pedestrians and motorists squeezed together on what is left of the road after being occupied by tents, there were visibly less than 10 people tending to the wake.
Traditionally, the wake is held in the house of the deceased person for three days to one week or longer when a relative from a faraway place is trying to catch up with the burial ceremony.
With the recent triumph of the administration in showing political will without compromising its compassion for the poor, I am hopeful that the mayor could eliminate practices that tend to show inconsistencies in policies like clearing the sidewalks of vendors in one hand and allowing street wakes on the other hand.