EARLY FOR ‘UNDAS’ A family visits a loved one’s gravesite at an Antipolo City memorial park in Rizal province on Wednesday, about half a month ahead of All Saints’ Day. In Metro Manila, for the second time since the start of the pandemic, public cemeteries will be closed to “Undas” visitors from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Philippine National Police chief Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said on Wednesday that more police officers will be deployed in Metro Manila cemeteries in anticipation of the influx of visitors. He said he had directed chiefs of police in the metropolis to coordinate with local governments for the setting up of police assistance desks near the cemeteries to keep peace and order and ensure that minimum public health and safety protocols are complied with. This is the second year that traditional visits to cemeteries on the occasions of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, locally called “Undas,” have been canceled by authorities in the metropolis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. —JEROME ANING