Slow-moving funeral processions in Metro face ban

Aside from suspending the window hours of the number coding scheme, the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) is mulling over another scheme to improve traffic situation in the metro: ban slow-moving funeral processions on major roads in Metro Manila.

General Manager Tim Orbos of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), a member agency of the I-ACT, said members of the funeral services industry had agreed in a meeting Thursday to regulate funeral processions to help avoid traffic buildup.

Once the convoy leaves the funeral parlor, it shall proceed at normal traffic speed, the MMDAofficial said.

The hearse and the convoy vehicles are also expected to obey traffic rules for regular vehicles, he added.

This means that when the traffic light turns red, the convoy should also stop.

If the light turns red at the middle of the procession, the convoy shall be cut, Orbos said.

“[There is] no stopping traffic to allow the hearse and its convoy to pass,” he added, of what had otherwise become customary on metro streets.

Walk areas

Filipino funeral processions, by tradition, involve family members and other mourners walking from the church to the cemetery. According to Orbos, this could only be done on des- ignated walk areas that will be assessed by providers of funeral services.

The scheme will cover the ten radial roads and six circumferential roads in the metro, where the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. window hours of the number coding scheme have been suspended since November.

“We want this done before December,” Orbos said. “We understand the need for (funeral processions) to pass by Commonwealth and C-5 Road, as the major memorial parks are in these areas. Edsa is OK as long as there is no convoy,” he added.

No sanctions have been set as this new scheme is still in its trial period, the MMDA official added.

“Member agencies of the IACT are continuously exploring (ways) and consulting every sector of society because we believe that we need not only the active participation of government, but also of private entities to come up with solutions,” Orbos said.