NCRPO to deploy 3,409 cops for Undas

MANILA, Philippines — Around 3,409 policemen will be deployed to secure cemeteries and columbariums in Metro Manila during the observance of All Saints’ Day, a police official announced yesterday.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Guillermo Eleazar said the policemen would be assigned to their posts as early as Oct. 31.

Dubbed “Ligtas Undas 2018,” Eleazar said the NCRPO would double police visibility in cemeteries to ensure public safety.

“Police officers would not only be in cemeteries but in every corner of Metro Manila to prevent criminals from striking,” Eleazar said.

He said they would ask the support of the military, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Bureau of Fire Protection, local government units and volunteer groups to serve as force multipliers.

“We would also man traffic along routes leading to cemeteries, bus terminals, train stations, seaports and airports,” Eleazar said.

He said beat patrollers along with K9 units and their handlers would be posted in strategic areas as well as vital government and private installations.

The NCRPO will continue its campaign against crimes and drugs amid the security preparations for All Saints’ Day, according to Eleazar.

“We ask the people’s cooperation to make the observance of All Saints’ Day peaceful and orderly,” he said. 

No break for MMDA

The MMDA will implement a “no day-off, no absence” policy from Oct. 27 to Nov. 3 under its Oplan Undas Kaluluwa 2018.

The agency will deploy over 2,000 personnel to ensure the smooth flow of traffic along major thoroughfares in the metropolis, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said.

The MMDA Task Force Special Operations and Metro Parkway Clearing Group would be in charge of clearing the roads leading to cemeteries.

MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia called on the local government units to remind visitors to keep the cemeteries clean.

Garcia said the number coding scheme would be suspended on Nov. 1 and 2.

The MMDA said ambulances would be on standby in cemeteries.  – With Ghio Ong