Lourdes Parish church opens gates to vehicles

THE Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes located in F. Llamas, Punta Princesa is opening its gates to accommodate passing vehicles to help ease traffic congestion brought about by the ongoing construction of the underpass project on N. Bacalso Ave.

City Councilor Dave Tumulak, deputy mayor for police matters, said starting Monday evening, the church allowed vehicles to pass through its gates.

“Hamugaway na kaayo. Wala na ta maka experience og grabi nga traffic this morning kay gidivert naman nato sud sa compound sa simbahan,” Tumulak told reporters yesterday. (The situation has improved. We have not experience heavy traffic this morning because we diverted the vehicles inside the compound of the church.)

“But we have restrictions, no motorcycles are allowed and no using of horns while inside the compound of the church,” he added.

City-bound vehicles will be allowed to pass through the church compound from E. Sabellano Street in going to Ganciang St., then to N. Bacalso Ave., Monday to Friday, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. only, Tumulak said.

Last Monday, Tumulak met with the Head of the Lourdes Parish Pastoral Council, Rev. Fr. Randolph Figuracion, ADB, to request them to open their compound to vehicles during peak hours.

“I personally talked to Fr. Figuracion about this and ila na pud diay ni nga nasabotan on how they can contribute to ease the heavy traffic,” he said.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña expressed his gratitude to the parish for opening their gates to public traffic.

“Good news. The congestion in E. Sabellano and F. Llamas has partly been relieved because the parish opened up a diversion road. It’s a wonderful improvement in addressing the congestion. The city government would like to thank Lourdes Parish for their unselfish contribution,” he said in his regular press briefing yesterday.