It won’t be long until Undas (All Saints Day and All Souls Day), and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is well aware of that. It will be a hectic time on the road during those days, especially in areas near cemeteries and columbariums.
With that, the agency has bared its plans for the upcoming holiday. Simply dubbed Oplan Undas 2023, the MMDA will be implementing more traffic measures soon.
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Per Don Artes, acting chairman of the MMDA, the additional traffic flow and improvement schemes will begin even before November 1, 2023. Artes says the agency will begin its rollout as early as October 27, 2023. Oplan Undas will eventually pave the way for other traffic management schemes this ‘Ber’ months leading into Christmas and New Year.
For manpower, the MMDA will deploy constables and personnel from the Traffic Discipline Office, Road Emergency Group, Metro Parkways Clearing Group, and the Task Force Special Operations. In traffic enforcers alone, the agency will have 1,448 officers on duty. The MMDA has also listed several ‘hotspot’ areas that require more attention. These are Manila North Cemetery, Makati South Cemetery, Bagbag Public Cemetery, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City and the San Juan Public Cemetery.
“We are working together with transportation officials to ensure that public transportation systems like the MRT, LRT, and EDSA Bus Carousel are prepared to accommodate the commuting public, so motorists can leave their vehicles someplace and take public transportation. We also encourage the public to use the Pasig River Ferry Service and avail of free rides that are convenient and traffic-free,” said Artes.
The MMDA will implement a “no day off, no absent policy” during the busy season to ensure a sufficient number of enforcers and constables. There will also be temporary suspension of excavation and road works activities all over NCR from November 13, 2023, to January 8, 2024.
