DURING the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines, the city of Manila will close important roads to traffic, namely, Taft Avenue, starting from the intersection on Quirino Avenue to Dagohoy, and Leon Guinto Streets around the Apostolic Nunciature, where the pope’s official residence will be located. Only residents and their vehicles will be allowed to enter Leon Guinto Street.
“’Yung mga nakatira dun na walang garahe…. lahat ’yun ay kukunin ng MMDA [Metropolitan Manila Development Authority] at ng city government,” said Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, who discussed security measures for the visit of Pope Francis with some barangay officials on Monday.
He also ordered strict monitoring of the communities near the Apostolic Nunciature.
He has also given the Presidential Security Group and Pope Francis’s security personnel access to almost 200 closed-circuit television cameras in the city.
In the interest of traffic and security, January 15, 16 and 19 have been declared special nonworking days in the National Capital Region.
The papal visit’s itinerary is as follows: The rest of the program will take place in Metro Manila, namely in Pasay City (Villamor Airbase and Mall of Asia Arena) and in Manila City (the Vatican Embassy along Taft Avenue, Malacañan Palace, Manila Cathedral, University of Santo Tomas (UST), and Rizal Park).
Roads will be blocked and traffic rerouted near the venues on respective dates.
The MMDA has already formed a task force and will keep people updated on traffic interruptions through its Twitter account.
Itinerary of the papal visit to the Philippines 2015 courtesy of Megacitizens.com