Bus operators told to make restrooms clean for travelers as Undas nears

With the yearly "Undas" (All Saints' and All Souls' Days) exodus due to start later this week, authorities on Wednesday reminded bus operators to make sure they have clean restrooms for travelers to use. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) also stressed that bus operators should have enough water in the restrooms, radio dzBB reported. NDRRMC head Benito Ramos said Filipinos traveling to the provinces to pay their respects to their dearly departed deserve to have all conveniences. He also suggested that bus operators provide the restrooms with proper services, with toilet paper and soap, the report added.

On the other hand, health authorities advised Filipinos traveling to the provinces to bring their own boiled water and prepared food to avoid possible food poisoning. National Epidemiology Center head Eric Tayag gave the advice as he appealed to the public to make sure the food they take while traveling is clean. The dzBB report quoted Tayag as saying the tips on bringing clean drinking water and preparing one's own food are particularly useful for Filipinos traveling with infants or children. But Tayag said the Department of Health will deploy ambulances and medical teams in and around cemeteries. Filipinos began flocking to bus stations to take trips to the provinces this week. Reports by radio dzBB's Allan Gatus and Sam Nielsen quoted bus operators as saying they expect the exodus to start peaking Thursday. The reports said some bus firms plying routes in Northern and Central Luzon have started increasing the number of trips there. Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police has ordered regional directors and the Highway Patrol Group to deploy road safety marshals and guard vital installations. As it heightened its security measures for All Saints' and All Souls' Days, the Philippine Coast Guard also advised passengers last Thursday to be at piers and seaports at least three hours before their scheduled trip. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente said they are intensifying security measures as part of Oplan Kaluluwa 2011, radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported. Ricafrente said that under Oplan Kaluluwa 2011, 80 percent of Coast Guard personnel are to be at their posts at any given time. He said this is time of the Coast Guard's efforts to comply with President Benigno Aquino III's directive of "zero maritime disaster." Inspection teams to check passengers and their baggage include:

- sea marshals aboard passenger ships - ship inspectors - K-9 units to sniff out explosives, drugs or weapons

Ricafrente also said they will coordinate with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to ferret out colorum (unregistered) operators. The Coast Guard and MARINA will also check vessels for overloading and overcapacity, he said. Last Sunday, Coast Guard commandant Admiral Ramon Liwag said he ordered all units to ensure the safety of passengers during the exodus and during the return after All Souls' Day. He said he expects the Coast Guard units to go on heightened alert once the number of passengers heading for the provinces starts to peak. While he did not give a specific timetable when the Coast Guard will go on heightened alert, he said their alert will extend until the "vacationers" return. "(Nakabantay kami sa) pagbibiyahe ng mamamayan at pasahero hanggang makabalik sila sa kanilang tahanan pagkatapos ng Undas," he said on government-run dzRB radio. — LBG, GMA News