CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will ask the two congressmen in the city to sponsor a bill that will declare every first Monday of November an official holiday for All Saints’ Day.
In doing so, Osmeña said that those who are from the provinces and are working in the city will have more time to visit their hometown.
“Once it is institutionalized, it will be a long weekend. It will be a good opportunity for people to pay respects to their loved ones,” he said.
At present, the mayor said some people, particularly those who are working on a Saturday, prefers to no longer go to their provinces because of the limited time.
Once his proposal will be legislated, Osmeña said All Saints’ Day may fall on any date for as long as it is the first Monday of November.
He said this will also boost the financial aspect of the provinces because people will have the chance to visit them.
Osmeña will ask Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa (Cebu City, south district) and Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district) to sponsor a bill covering the matter.
Meanwhile, Osmeña said that this year’s observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day were the most peaceful over the past years.
“The Kalag-Kalag this year is the most organized and best managed that I have experienced in my five terms as mayor,” he said.
Osmeña thanked the police, quick response team, workers and volunteers in keeping a peaceful and orderly observance of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), though, arrested suspected robbers in Carreta Cemetery last Wednesday.
But CCPO Director Joel Doria said that they have not received reports of houses being burglarized while the owners visited the graves of their deceased loved ones.
“We caught one person who had a gun. In the process, we discovered that he had a standing warrant of arrest,” Doria said.
Juanito Fernandez was arrested in the Carreta Cemetery for bringing a caliber. 38.
Another suspected theft, 19-year-old Jerson Paculbi, was caught for stealing candles and offerings from the graves.
The CCPO recorded the peak of the people visiting the cemeteries at 6 p.m. last Nov. 1.
“The number of people who flocked to the cemeteries reached 57,323,” Doria said.
The CCPO is monitoring 14 public and 7 private cemeteries in the city.
Today, Doria said they will reduced the number of personnel they fielded for Undas 2017 to 600. CCPO deployed 1,000 personnel to the cemeteries.
“Some of our augmented Regional Public Safety Battalion personnel will be sent home and our policemen operating in their respective stations will be the ones who will guard and monitor,” Doria said. (RVC, JOB)