BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN / CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
In the observance of All Saint’s and All Soul’s Day on November 1 and 2, respectively, the Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) has placed all City and Municipal DRRMOs under “Blue Alert” status starting October 25.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson ordered Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to heighten the alert status, intensify road safety measures and the possible deployment of responders to different areas of convergence where large number of people meet, especially in different cemeteries.
Despite the lifting of mandatory face mask use outdoors, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division chief Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian still encouraged people to wear masks, especially in crowded areas, since COVID-19 is still around.
Aside from road safety and COVID-19, Caelian said they are also on the watch for fire incidents.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental is anticipating thousands to visit their dead relatives in cemeteries, aside from returning to their respective hometowns due to the long weekend.
October 31 has been declared by Malacañang a special non-working holiday to strengthen family ties and promote domestic tourism, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
BACOLOD CITY ROAD CLOSURE
The Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) has proposed the implementation of road closure and temporary re-routing in order to ease traffic congestion during the observance of Undas or All Saints Day/All Souls Day on November 1 and 2.
The street along the Burgos Public Cemetery from Lopez Jaena Street to Ylac Avenue will be closed from 6 a.m. on November 1, until 6 p.m. of November 2.
The Bacolod City Fire Station headed by Fire Marshal Chief Insp. Rodel Legaspi, on the other hand, will be on full alert or Code Red starting today until November 2, as part of its activation of Oplan Kaluluwa 2022.
MINIMUM HEALTH PROTOCOLS
Meanwhile, the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod enjoined all Bacolod residents to observe minimum health protocols while visiting the cemeteries, columbariums and the like, during the observance of All Saints and All Souls Day on November 1 and 2.
The resolution authored by Councilor Em Ang said “The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus is still very much around with daily cases still recorded in Bacolod City, although we are already living in a ‘new normal’ as the national government describes the current living situation of Filipinos after almost two years of lockdowns.”
Visiting the dead is already an integral part of Filipino culture, specifically observed between the first and second days of November, it said.
Since there no more restrictions on mass gatherings, it is expected that many will again observe the visitation of the dead in all the cemeteries, columbariums and the like in Bacolod City, the resolution said.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod deems it important for the city government to encourage, remind and instill in its citizens the observance of minimum health protocols to ensure that everyone is safe and protected from exposure or transmission of communicable diseases, it added.*
