Oplan Undas, Ligtas Biyahe set up in Bicol

By Marlon A. Loterte

LEGAZPI CITY, Oct 30 (PIA) -- Operatives and personnel of government organizations will set up assistance centers and other services for motorists and tourists who will troop to the region for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Police offices across the region will put up check points and deploy additional cops as a security measure during the two-day religious event, Supt. Renato Bataller, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Bicol, said.

Bataller added that the security plan would put police operatives on high alert after it launched Oplan Undas Wednesday last week to maintain the celebrations’ peace and solemnity in Bicol region,

All Saints and All Souls Day will be observed on November 1 and 2 this year and were declared holidays.

Bataller said police operatives were tasked to secure religious, public and private cemeteries, churches, major roads, airports, ports and other places where people usually converge during the religious event.

Police assistance centers will also be set up at major ports and airports to assist passengers, particularly in the cities of Naga and Legazpi, Masbate and in Virac, Catanduanes.

Security checks would be strictly enforced in bus terminals and major seaports across the region, added Bataller.

The Department of Public Works and Highways, Land Transportation Office, and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board would also field regional and provincial offices’ personnel to man assistance centers set up at various highways, airports, ports, including malls and communication relay stations.

Jose Descalzo, information officer of LTFRB 5, said in the radio program “Aramon Ta Daw” of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) today that the agency and LTO5 have jointly launched the Oplan Ligtas Biyahe in Bicol to ensure safety of travelers, especially those availing of services of public transport for the Undas.

Descalzo urged travelers to stop patronizing colorum buses and other similar means of public transports, since they operate either without a valid license or outside their designated route from the LTFRB.

He said the agency has an ongoing campaign to crackdown colorum public utility vehicles to provide all motorists safe travel and ensure that passengers aboard authorized vehicles.

Provisionary Ensign Dorice Joyce Villegas, operations officer of PCG Bicol District, cited in an interview in the same radio program that all stations across Bicol has since intensified inspection of passenger sea vessels in the wake of the heavy influx of passengers, especially in the ports of Matnog, Sorsogon, Tabaco in Albay and Masbate province in time for the Undas.

“We need to ensure sea worthiness of vessels, provision of safety jackets and availability of communication equipment in every sea craft, among others to prevent emergencies and disasters at sea as well as for their own protection,” Villegas said. (MAL-PIA5/Albay)