President Rodrigo Duterte INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
President Duterte has opted to skip the inspection of public transport terminals in the country as he was “satisfied” with the security plans mapped out by concerned state agencies for the Halloween break, Malacañang said yesterday.
“According to the OP (Office of the President), yes, he is satisfied (with the security preparations),” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a text message.
After spending the past few weeks visiting China and Japan, Mr. Duterte stayed in his hometown Davao City, where he was expected to visit the tombs of his parents last night.
Meanwhile, Malacañang urged the public to abide by the security regulations in cemeteries and to respect the solemnity of the annual commemoration of All Saints’ Day.
Former President Benigno Aquino III signed Proclamation No. 1105 in August last year declaring Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 as special nonworking holidays for the remembrance of All Saints’ Day, one of the most important holidays in Asia’s only Catholic nation.
In a statement, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar reminded the people that bringing liquors, audio speakers and bladed items to memorial parks were strictly prohibited.
“As we remember our departed loved ones, we ask everyone to observe the solemnity of the occasion… (and) see to it that cemeteries before, during and after the observance of (All Saints’ Day) are clean, orderly and crime-free,” Andanar said.
He said the police and military have been conducting intelligence and security operations to ensure the safety of millions of Filipinos who would troop to the provinces during the four-day Halloween break.
In Metro Manila alone, he said the National Capital Region Police Office stationed over 9,500 policemen in cemeteries, airports, seaports and bus terminals until Nov. 2.
Meanwhile, a Catholic priest advised the faithful to remember the dead not so much through expensive bouquets of flowers and candles but through earnest prayers for the repose of their souls.
Fr. Roy Bellen, head of the Archdiocese of Manila’s Archdiocesan Office of Communications, said Filipinos tend to give the best for their loved ones even when they have already passed on.
But it’s OK to offer simple flowers and candles, he said.