ILOILO CITY — Concerned offices of the city government here have carried out a last-minute inspection of various public cemeteries, a day before crowds are expected to troop to various cemeteries for the observance of the All Saints’ Day and the All Souls’ Day on November 1 and 2.
“We brought with us concerned department heads to see the situation,” said Mayor Jose Espinosa III who led the inspection.
Espinosa said the spot-check of the flower vendors was conducted Tuesday evening while inspection Wednesday morning was meant to see the cleanliness of cemeteries and check police visibility. “We don’t want any untoward incident during the observance of Undas,” he said.
Joining the team are the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO), General Services Office (GSO), City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), City Agriculture’s Office (CAO) and Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) among others.
The first stop was the Tanza cemetery, the biggest public cemetery with more than 10,000 tombs. It is also where the mausoleum of the family of the mayor is situated.
First among the concerns noticed was the lack of pathway, which he committed to be part of his priority projects. He also saw the need to mount a tent for the police assistance desks.
Brief stops were made in Molo and Mandurriao public cemeteries.
Meantime, PSTMO head Jeck Conlu said 300 of their personnel are deployed in the field to man the streets supported by a sweeping team to free roads leading to cemeteries from any obstructions and at the time install the necessary directional signage.
“The main function is to manage the traffic and maintain peace and order because we target zero road accident, zero crime and zero apprehension,” Conlu said.
He said traffic auxiliaries will be assigned in big cemeteries. Iloilo City hosts 22 cemeteries both public and private.
“Our focus will be public cemeteries. Private cemeteries are usually manned by their own private management,” he said.
The PSTMO will also be joined by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the conduct of inspection in all public cemeteries.
Meanwhile, GSO head Joren Sartorio said that based on the previous observance of “Undas”, cemeteries in the city could generate 15 to 30 tons of garbage. That is on top of the 300 tons collected daily all over the city.
To manage this, Sartorio said that they will be sending additional trips to collect the garbage.
“We are urging our public to observe proper waste disposal. Residuals and plastics should be properly disposed and not just throw them anywhere,” he said.
ICPO Director Martin Defensor Jr warned the public to observe laws and other prohibitions such as the bringing of liquor and smoking in public places.
He said they confiscated cigarettes being sold in La Paz district. (Perla Lena/PNA)
