Brace for heavy traffic
CEBU, Philippines — Heavy traffic is expected this Sunday during the Pasigarbo Festival, considered as festival of all festivals in Cebu.
The festival will feature 44 contingents representing the towns and cities in Cebu Province. Each contingent will have 180 dancers and propsmen, plus one festival queen.
Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak said that road closure will start at 12 p.m. but it will start earlier if traffic will worsen along the festival route from the Cebu Provincial Capitol to the Cebu City Sports Center.
Affected streets during the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo street dancing are the R. Duterte, V. Rama Avenue, B. Rodriguez, Osmeña Boulevard and Escario area.
"Mohangyo lang ta sa atong motorist nga kun duna silay importante nga lakaw, mogikan sila og sayo ug katong dili kaayo importante ang ilang mga lakaw dili lang sa molakaw gumikan kay kanang roads from Capitol to Cebu city Sports Center, mao na ang major roads connecting North to South, so duna gyud pagka huot sa trapiko” said Tumulak.
An estimated 20,000 crowd, including the contingents, are expected to join and watch the event.
Some VIPs are also expected to witness the festival.
At least 500 policemen will be deployed from the Capitol to the streets up to the CCSC to ensure security and safety of the contingents and the crowd.
Among those that were discussed during the briefing were the huge props used by some contingents that the contingents find difficulty putting inside the schools where they will be billeted.
Organizers even suggested to use the LED wall on stage instead of using giant backdrop.
Despite of this guideline, it was known that many contingents were bringing huge props.
The street dancing will start at 2 p.m. and the showdown is expected to start at 4 p.m. and the awarding of the winners will be done on the following day.
Tickets for the “Pasigarbo sa Sugbo” at the Cebu City Sports Center are already out, as part of the security and safety measures.
Maria Lester Ybanez, provincial tourism officer, said that though the event is free of charge, they have to issue tickets on first-come first-served basis to make sure that the crowd matches the holding capacity of the venue which is placed at 12,000 spectators.
“The tickets are coded according to the colors of the bleachers. Even though this is open to the public we have to stop disposing of the tickets if we reach the capacity to avoid an overflow,” Ybanez explained.
“However, should the police find that the venue can further accommodate more people, those on queue outside of the venue can wait for their turn. Since tickets have been given out to local government units and their representatives, there are cases that they might not show up, so their spot would be given instead to the people waiting outside,” she added.
According to Lt. Col. Eloveo Marquez of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, police visibility is assured every 10 meters along the route distance divided into seven sectors. — GAN (FREEMAN)
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