Crowds flocking to Manila South Cemetery on All Saints’ Day will be under the watchful eye of a drone, which will help security and rescue personnel monitor the 25-hectare public memorial park.
Acting Makati City Mayor Romulo Peña Jr. on Thursday said the remote-controlled drone, “unlike foot and bike patrols, would be able to conduct reconnaissance discreetly and without close physical contact with the throngs of people expected to arrive.”
Gilbert Delos Reyes, the city’s public information officer, said the gadget’s camera can send images from the cemetery to six monitors at the Makati Rescue office. The device was bought by the city government three weeks ago as part of the rescue unit’s upgrade.
Using a drone for enhanced monitoring of a big public event is a first for the city, Delos Reyes said. “The entire cemetery can be covered by the drone.”
Meanwhile, Peña ordered the lifting of the number coding scheme for vehicles in Makati on Friday, Oct. 30.
Around 300 members of the Makati Public Safety unit, 100 Makati policemen and 100 more from the National Capital Region Police Office are being deployed in the cemetery and surrounding areas from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.
Some 750 members of the Department of Environmental Services will also be on duty “to enforce the city’s anti-littering ordinance and plastics ban,” Pena said.
The Makati Action Center will also have 20 wheelchairs on standby for the elderly, persons with disabilities, or those with medical emergencies.
The following streets will be closed to vehicles starting midnight of Oct. 31 to midnight of Nov. 2: Kalayaan Avenue (from Zapote to F. Zobel), South Avenue (from Metropolitan to J.P. Rizal), Vito Cruz (from South Avenue to Zapote), Nicanor Garcia (from Jupiter to J.P. Rizal), and Pililia (from J.P. Rizal to Kalayaan).
Two-way traffic will be allowed on J.P. Rizal (from Pasong Tirad to Makati Avenue), and Kalayaan (from F. Zobel to Makati Avenue, and from Pasong Tirad to Zapote) for the duration of the road closures.