THE Zamboanga City government, through the City Administrator’s Office, is preparing security and traffic management plans which will be implemented during the observance of Holy Week in April.
Central to the preparations are the churches and other holy sites such as the Mayor Cesar Climaco Park in Mount Abong-Abong in the village of Pasonanca and the Monte Santo in Lumayang.
Thousands of people are expected to converge in the two areas for the annual Lenten retreat, especially for the Way of the Cross at 14 Stations, depicting the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In a meeting with the stakeholders on Friday, March 10, City Administrator Marie Angelique Go relayed Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar’s instruction to highlight the meaning and solemnity of the Holy Week, particularly in Abong-Abong, instead of making the event highly commercialized with the presence of ambulant vendors and temporary stores.
Assistant City Administrator Jose Genaro Yap-Aizon also brought up the observation from previous years that the Holy Week retreat in Abong-Abong, especially on the night of Holy Thursday, becomes a “dating” opportunity mostly by young lovers.
He asked the police to have this “dating” opportunity controlled in reverence to the solemnity of the Holy Week. (Bong Garcia/VoxPop Philippines)