More than a million Filipinos trooped to Manila cemeteries on Wednesday, All Saints' Day, to remember their deceased loved ones.
According to the Manila Police District (MPD), the visitors were only allowed to enter the cemeteries at 5 a.m. despite queuing outside the gates at 4 a.m. on Nov. 1.
At the Manila North Cemetery (MNC), police said they managed to confiscate 416 lighters and 307 cigarette packs from the 690,000 people who visited the cemetery as of noon.
MNC management decided to extend the closing hours from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. because many other people were waiting outside to enter.
The number of visitors reached 1,025,000 at 6 p.m.
Authorities said they were swamped by a large crowd as soon as they opened the gates.
Over 250 MPD policemen were deployed to the MNC, while 130 personnel were assigned to assist those who will experience health problems and to direct traffic.
At least 450,000 individuals flocked to the Manila South Cemetery (MSC) where more or less 400 lighters, 130 cigarette packs, and a bladed weapon were confiscated.
Police said there were 300 policemen deployed to the area.
The city government said 1,701,645 people had visited the MNC and MSC since Oct. 29.
At La Loma Cemetery, 95 policemen and 102 force multipliers were assigned.
As of noon, authorities confiscated 22 cigarette packs from 4,500 cemetery visitors.
Meanwhile, no prohibited items were confiscated from around 3,500 individuals who visited the Chinese Cemetery.
A total of 37 Manila police and 28 force multipliers were assigned to the Chinese Cemetery to ensure the implementation of security measures.
MPD said no untoward incidents were reported in the four cemeteries.
Thousands more are expected to visit the city's cemeteries on All Souls' Day, Nov. 2.