FOR HOLY WEEK
MANILA, APRIL 3, 2012 (CATHOLIC NEWS
PHILIPPINES) THE Holy Week has yet to start on Sunday, April 1, but
commuters in Metro Manila have started leaving for the provinces.
If the bus terminals are already packed, they can pick other alternative
modes of transportation.
Some have chosen to ride the train as their favorite mode of transportation
to return to their provinces.
Train rides, they said, are comfortable because they can be seated in
air-conditioned coaches. Not only that, there is no traffic.
Also, train fares are cheap. The fare from Manila to Quezon or Naga ranges
from P400-P665, while a bus ticket for the same distance costs at least P680.
The only hitch is that trains are already fully booked starting on Friday,
March 30, up to April 5.
[PHOTO - ROMANS IN MARINDUQUE: The weeklong Moriones Festival in
Marinduque starts on Monday with the traditional procession of characters
dressed like Roman soldiers and Samaritans and playing roles in the Passion of
Christ. The characters are played by residents, public and private
officials]
That is why passengers have no choice now but to take the bus.
But there are also advantages in riding the bus compared to the train where
one is only allowed a baggage limit of 20 kilos.
Aside from the allowable unlimited load, buses also pass through small towns,
so there is no need to transfer to other transport.
But in swiftness in getting to one's destination, nothing beats the airplane.
A 10-hour ride in a bus or a train would just take about an hour by plane.
Where before plane fare were expensive, now these are already affordable.
If one is lucky enough to catch a promo deal, a Manila-Naga flight costs only
P998 one-way.
Report from InterAksyon.com
Army won't go on red alert this week Tuesday, 03
April 2012 00:00
SOLDIERS have gone on standby mode at the start of the Holy Week.
The army however has not raised the red alert level in this part of the
country. Maj. Eugene Julio Osias IV, spokesperson of the army's 4th Infantry
Division, said soldiers were ready to thwart any security threat in the region.
Osias said troops would continue to do the routine defensive patrols, and quick
response teams in the army camps were ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.
He said Camp Evangelista was coordinating with the National Police through
the joint peace and security coordinating committee to ensure a peaceful
observance of the remaining days of Lent. The military would merely be in the
sidelines while the police takes the lead, he said. Osias noted that the
government has not declared any ceasefire during the Holy Week.
[PALM SUNDAY BLESSING. A priest blesses the palm fronds brought
by churchgoers for the Palm Sunday mass at the St. Joseph Cathedral in Butuan
City. PHOTO BY ERWIN MASCARINAS ]
He said the army would also continue to focus on the campaign against the New
People's Army (NPA) in the Caraga. He said the military has "well handled" the
insurgency problem in Bukidnon, and even received surrender feelers from NPA
members in the province. Osias said the surrender feelers came following the
surrender of 45 rebels last March 29.
The surrenders reporedly yielded 29 firearms and sacks of improvised Land
mines. But on Sunday, suspected rebels exploded two bombs along the
Kidapawan-Magpet Highway in neighboring North Cotabato just as a military truck
and two vehicles were passing by. No one was hurt, according to Lt. Manuel
Gatus, chief of the civil military operations of the 57th Infantry Brigade.
Gatus, who was in the military vehicle when the bombs went off, said they
were on their way to Magpet town to monitor and assess the situation in Barangay
Bagumbayan where there were clashes between soldiers and NPA guerrillas three
days earlier. He said the two bombs were planted along the highway in Purok-Uno,
Barangay Mateo. The first bomb, he said, exploded when a motorcycle and a
Multicab van were passing by while the other went off just as the military truck
reached the area.
"The elements of the 57th IB who were the targets of the attack suffered no
casualties," said Gatus. Gatus decried what he called were "acts of terror" by
the NPA. The bomb attacks took place three days after government troops and
communist guerrillas exchanged firepower in Sitio Bantaan, Barangay Bagumbayan
in Magpet town. Sporadic clashes resulted in the death of four people -- three
suspected rebels and a militiaman from the 57th IB.
Meanwhile, as people came for the Holy Week, police have stepped up security
measures here and in other parts of the region. At the airport in Barangay
Lumbia here, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Phils. (Caap) said it assigned
more personnel to man the help desks located at the pre-departure and arrival
areas. Caap action officer OrLando Saberon said the help desks were set up last
weekend and each would be manned by three people for every shift. Saberon said
the volume of passengers has already increased since Saturday and it would
continue to shoot up this week.
Supt. Roy Magsalay, Agora police chief, said he has assigned more officers at
the bus terminal in Agora, Lapasan. A police assistance center has already been
established within the terminal premises, he said. Magsalay said he has also
deployed more police officers to do the rounds and provide police visibility.
Magsalay said there was an increase in the number bus passengers at the terminal
last weekend. Senior Insp. Ernesto Daing, Cugman police chief, said he has
coordinated with the village officials in providing security at the Malasag
pilgrimage site, where devotees are expected to flock during the Maundy Thursday
and Good Friday.
Daing said the police would be setting up a police outpost there as early as
Wednesday afternoon. He said the police would help in crowd control in Malasag,
and would keep an eye on churches in the barangay. City police director Senior
Supt. Gerardo Rosales said he is expecting a peaceful observance of the Holy
Week here. "We are ready," said Rosales, adding that the local police has
received no information about any plan to sabotage the Holy Week activities
here. "We're hoping that this year's observance of the Lent will be as peaceful
as last year's."
The police here said a total of 700 officers and trainees from the National
Police's Regional Training School would implement the security plan until Easter
Sunday.
By JIGGER JERUSALEM and BOBBY LAGSA,
Correspondents
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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