This Week in Metro Manila (September 12 to 18, 2016)

September 12 is Eid’l Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice. The Feast of Sacrifice for the Muslims honors Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah as an act of submission. Allah then intervened through his angel Jibra’il, informing Ibrahim that his sacrifice has already been accepted.

Pursuant to Republic Act No. 9849, the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar is declared a regular non-working holiday in respect to the Muslim’s holiest holiday, the Eid’l Adha.

Every second week of September is the National Suicide Prevention Week. The Department of Health (DOH) promotes the event in the hopes of removing the stigma of suicide being a taboo topic in the Philippines. Filipinos often undermine people with suicidal thoughts or those with depression and relates it to just stress or weakness. Hence people with such case are reluctant to come forward and seek help. The DOH urges the public to be supportive to those who need psychological help.

The Philippine Psychiatric Association sites suicide as the 9th cause of death among young professionals in the country.

As increased security measures are being implemented in all airports in the country, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) advises its passengers to turn up earlier in the airport for them to have ample time for airport security and check in procedures and avoid missing their flights. PAL encourages its passengers a lead time of two hours for local flights and three hours for international ones.

Philippine National Police’s Aviation Security will also be on guard to protect and ensure the safety of the passengers. The enhanced security measures in airports are done because of the recent bombing incident in Davao City.

The government in partnership with private company Airfreight 2100 Inc., launched the Premium airport bus service Ultimate Bus Experience or UBE Express.

UBE Express is now serving customers in Manila and Makati an introductory bus fare is PhP150. With 21 buses, UBE Express operates every day as early as 3:00 AM to 12:00 midnight. The buses used are Mercedes MCV C 120 Low-Entry model buses equipped with GPS, radio communications, Wi-Fi, and CCTV cameras.

The airport bus service project is part of the 100-days initiative program of President Rodrigo Duterte with the goals of alleviating the traffic going to and from the airport and giving the public cheaper transportation options. The UBE Express has plans of expanding in other areas like Alabang and Ortigas.

The E-tricycles or E-trikes are expected to traverse the streets of Manila on September 15. City Mayor Joseph Estrada who spearheaded the project said that releasing of E-trikes aims to minimize the pollution in the city. Charging stations for the vehicles are also being installed around the city in partnership with Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

There will be 380 E-trikes traveling around the tourist belt like Malate, Luneta, Ermita, Chinatown, Binondo, Intramuros, and Quiapo.

The Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (I-ACT) has implemented new traffic schemes along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) last September 5, to ease the traffic in the major highway.

The new schemes are as follows:

• Closure of U-Turn Slots Southbound near Trinoma after West Avenue to SM City Northbound;

• Closure/Removal of counter flow at Rockwell Flyover from Rockwell to EDSA; and

• North Road, EDSA - One way only from EDSA.

The morning commute will be a little difficult this week with the thunderstorms and showers covering the whole metro. Commuters can prepare against the bad weather by bringing umbrellas and by wearing boots or slippers. The evening weather will be a little better with only cloudiness and a little shower.

The 37th Manila International Book Fair will happen this week from September 14 to 18 at the SMX Convention Center. The biggest book fair in the country will be attended by the biggest players in the literary industry showcasing various genres, from fiction to non-fiction.

The event will also include various talks from different personalities in the book industry. There will also be book signing and launches from various authors hosted by different publishing houses.

Gates are open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM with tickets selling at PhP20.