Numbers coding suspended 6-10 April
A skeletal deployment will be in effect for MMDA from 7 to 9 April, with personnel to be assigned in churches and the procession or ‘panata’ routes going to Antipolo City.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority yesterday announced the suspension of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program, or numbers coding scheme, from Maundy Thursday to the following Monday, from 6 to 10 April.
Likewise, the MMDA said it will activate its Oplan Metro Alalay Semana Santa 2023 starting Holy Wednesday during which it will deploy a total of 2,104 personnel on major thoroughfares, transport hubs and areas where people congregate in Metro Manila like near malls.
The agency said it intends to ensure the safe and smooth flow of traffic in the metropolis this Lenten season.
To ensure it will have the full complement of personnel for deployment, the MMDA announced a no-day-off, no-absent policy on 5 and 6 April and 10 April when vehicular traffic is expected to be snarled by people leaving or returning from the provinces.
A skeletal deployment will be in effect for MMDA from 7 to 9 April, with personnel to be assigned in churches and the procession or “panata” routes going to Antipolo City.
MMDA acting chairperson Atty. Don Artes said the MMDA will join other government agencies in setting up a multiagency command center or MACC at the MMDA metro base.
The MACC will pave the way for a faster and more coordinated traffic management response as the inter-agency task force monitors the status of key transport hubs and major roads through closed-circuit television cameras.
The transport and public works department, the police and local government units will be represented in the MACC, Artes said.
“Through this inter-agency action center, we can monitor real-time bus terminals across Metro Manila to ensure safer travel and orderly traffic flow as we observe the Holy Week,” he said.
An inter-agency terminal inspection is also set to be conducted days before the Holy Week. Ambulances and tow trucks will be prepositioned in key areas in the metropolis.
“MMDA traffic personnel will be assigned to roads leading to bus terminals, seaports, airports, and major churches across the metropolis, to guide the commuters taking advantage of the Lenten season and to ensure unimpeded traffic flow,” Artes said.
Entry and exit points to and from Metro Manila such as the North Luzon Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, Coastal Road, McArthur Highway, Marcos Highway, Mindanao Avenue, and A. Bonifacio will also be manned.