Halloween beauty pageants and similar events were no longer allowed at the Manila North Cemetery for this year’s “Undas” to prevent brawls similar to what happened last year as more than 19,000 visitors flocked to this old cemetery at noon on the eve of All Saints’ Day.
Last year, authorities said that a group of members of the third sex held a beauty pageant before midnight at the Manila North Cemetery that ended in a fight after some of them disapproved the result of the contest.
Bruises and other minor physical injuries were sustained by the participants of the pageant although there were no cases filed because of the incident.
“They can no longer do that in the interest of security here,” Manila North Cemetery Undas 2015 ground commander and Manila Police District Sta. Cruz-Central Market station commander Supt. Jackson Tuliao said.
At the entrance of the cemetery, children were given name tags that included the name and contact details of their guardians to make it easier for them to be located if they get lost in the crowd.
Tuliao said they have confiscated two gardening tools, small shovels, and two flammable materials such as thinner and kerosene, among the objects banned in the cemetery.
Some 116 policemen, among other security officers, were assigned to the Manila North Cemetery during the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.
Many prominent personalities have visited their departed loved ones at the Manila North Cemetery yesterday.
Among them were independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe. She arrived and offered flowers at the tomb of her adoptive father actor Fernando Poe Jr. at about 10:30 a.m.
More than 1,000 persons have flocked to the La Loma Cemetery in Caloocan City as of noon yesterday to visit their departed loved ones this All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.
The Cebu City Police Office has fielded uniformed personnel in various cemeteries and crowded areas, including ports and bus terminals, for the expected influx of people this All Saints’ Day.
Policemen, aided by barangay security personnel and force multipliers, have set up help desks and manned entrances of Cebu City’s cemeteries, including the public cemeteries of Carreta and Calamba.
(Jenny F. Manongdo, Ed Mahilum, and Mars W. Mosqueda Jr.)