The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) unveiled “Oplan Undas 2024” on Friday, Oct. 18, to ensure a smooth and orderly observance of the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day next month.
MMDA Chairman Don Artes said 1,257 personnel from the Traffic Discipline Office, Special Operations Group-Strike Force, Metro Parkways Clearing Group, and Road Emergency Group will be deployed on priority areas such as bus terminals, cemeteries, and major thoroughfares for Oplan Undas 2024.
“We will activate our Oplan Undas 2024 from October 27 to November 4 to ensure a safe observance of remembering our departed loved ones. We will also implement ‘No Day Off, No Absent Policy’ for our traffic personnel,” Artes said.
The schedule of duties of MMDA personnel will also be extended until midnight a day before and after Undas to increase visibility and to intensify traffic management, he noted.
Further, additional security personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) will also be fielded on the ground to augment the MMDA’s force.
Artes gathered representatives from the PNP Highway Patrol Group (HPG), the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), and traffic bureau chiefs in all Metro Manila local government units to discuss their respective traffic management plans and emergency responses for a peaceful Undas.
He urged concerned agencies to prepare for an expected exodus of passengers going to provinces by implementing effective measures to alleviate traffic flow in major thoroughfares and in roads leading to and from major cemeteries in the metropolis.
At least 12 tow trucks and six ambulances will also be deployed by the MMDA to provide public assistance and immediately respond to any emergencies. Help desks and command posts will also be set up in bus terminals, the MMDA chief said.
Meanwhile, Artes said that the MMDA’s Metro Parkways Clearing Group will focus its cleanup operations within the vicinity of cemeteries beginning on Oct. 26 until Nov. 4.
Lastly, Artes said that 30 units of deployable cameras will also be used in five major cemeteries in the region – Manila North Cemetery, Manila South Cemetery, Bagbag Public Cemetery in Quezon City, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina, and San Juan Public Cemetery – for a round-the-clock monitoring of traffic situation by the MMDA’s Communications and Command Center.