WPD chief: No order to stop funeral marchers at main gate

Western Police District (WPD) director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong assured fans and supporters of Fernando Poe Jr. of adequate police security during his funeral march to the North Cemetery on Wednesday.

At the same time, Bulaong denied reports that he ordered his men to bar the entry of the funeral march through the main gate, and instead force them to pass through the side entrance and prevent vehicles from entering the cemetery.

"There is no such order to bar the funeral march, much more to restrain the supporters and fans from paying their last respects to Mr. Poe," Bulaong told The STAR.

He said the WPD will closely coordinate and abide with the security measures devised by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) to ensure an orderly funeral march and the smooth flow of traffic.

"I call on supporters of Mr. Poe not to add fuel to the already volatile temper of his die-hard fans. I was never interviewed and I denied giving orders to bar entry of the funeral marchers at the main gate of the North Cemetery. I am likewise assuring Mr. Poe’s supporters of police protection during the funeral," Bulaong stressed.

He explained that he had instructed the WPD to secure the funeral route in order to prevent any incident that might take place once Poe’s fans and supporters get too emotional.

"We are going to deploy enough police officers to handle the situation in accordance with the security measures to secure the area from any incident," Bulaong said.

He added there is no order to prevent the entry of vehicles inside the cemetery. "What we recommended to the funeral march coordinator is to issue car passes since the road inside the cemetery could not accommodate large volumes of vehicles, which might hamper the movement of sympathizers and relatives," Bulaong explained.

For his part, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza assured the public and peace and order will prevail over during the march to the Manila North Cemetery.

"We will do the best we can to ensure order during the funeral march and the actual interment of Poe. We are anticipating a huge crowd in the funeral and we are prepared to handle it," Atienza said.

Atienza appealed to the public, particularly his thousands of fans to be calm and not create any trouble, noting that if their idol were alive, he would not like any chaos.

He noted that a number of uniformed policemen would be deployed along the direction of the funeral march to handle the crowd and also manage the traffic situation.

The mayor has directed Manila North Cemetery administrator Dr. Marie Manrique to conduct clean-up drive in the area.

Manila North Cemetery, the biggest in the country, has several political figures, including past presidents of the Republic, and show business personalities are buried there. – Nestor Etolle, Cecille Suerte Felipe