Are you going to Leyte to see the pope?

Travel light.

This was the advice given by heads of the committees in charge of security of the government and the Church when Pope Francis visits Leyte on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Extraordinary security measures will be in place to ensure the safety of the pope and the people attending the event, said Chief Supt. Asher Dolina, director of the Police Regional Office in Eastern Visayas (PRO-8).

If you’re attending the papal events, you can’t bring a bag, especially backpacks, or umbrellas.

Any belongings have to be keep in a  transparent bag (like see-through plastic). Raincoats have to be  made of see-through plastic as well.

Even bottled water and cigarettes are prohibited, so the faithful who want to attend the Mass at the Tacloban airport or wait for Pope Francis outside the Archbishop’s Residence have to be prepared.

Weeks before the historic visit, Tacloban faithful have been briefed with  guidelines announced during Mass.

About 5,000 policemen, including a contingent from Central Visayas, will reinforce the police forces in Tacloban City and Palo in Leyte.

ROTC cadets will also be tapped to  maintain order and guide vehicles.

A tarpaulin sign of Pope Francis is placed in front of the Palo Leyte Cathedral ahead of his Jan. 17 visit.
(CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

Airlift option

“We’re expecting over a million people. Let’s all be obedient to the law enforcers (especially during the papal motorcade). Otherwise, we won’t have any choice but to airlift the Holy Father if the pope mobile could no longer pass through the streets,” said  Fr. Chris Arthur Militante, information and social communications officer of the Archdiocese of Palo.

He gave Cebu Daily News a bird’s eyeview of preparations during CDN’s visit to Palo.

Part of  the Archbishop’s Residence and the cathedral in Palo will be cordoned off and designated as a helicopter landing zone in case organizers decide to transport the pontiff by air.

Fr. Chris Arthur Militante, media coordinator for the papal visit, shows a picture of the templete where Pope Francis will celebrate Mass at the Archbishop’s Palace in Palo, Leyte. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

Scenarios

“We’re actually giving our parishioners  scenarios during the papal visit. There are times you can’t move due to the crowd. You will be under the heat of the sun for so many hours. They should be ready.,” Militante said.

Some priests in Palo also advised people to wear adult diapers to endure the long hours in a crowd, when toilets are not available.

They took the cue from Francis Tolentino,  chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, who required  traffic constables on duty for the papal visit to wear diapers.

No movement

Militante said the entrance gates for the papal Mass at the Daniel Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City will be opened at 2 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17.

“Three hours before the start of the Mass, at around 7 a.m., there will be no movement  especially at the airport,” he said.

The elderly and people with disabilities (PWD) are advised to stay at the Pope Francis Center for the Poor at the Archbishop’s Residence compound where the Holy Father will go after the Mass.

A video of the public  briefing on the security arrangements and regulations is  posted on the website of the Archdiocese of Palo.

It said people attending the Mass at the Tacloban City airport are prohibited from bringing any bladed  or sharp objects and even bottled water.

Water stations will be put up in the area where people can have a drink.

The prohibition will also apply to well-wishers along the stretch of the road from the airport to the Pope Francis Center in Gonzagahaus grounds in Palo.

People on the streets will be frisked. Bags will  be inspected.

Police teams will be fielded in the 12-kilometer stretch from the airport to the Archbishop’s Residence. Smoking is strictly prohibited “in all areas of engagement.”

The security committee also advised people to keep their pets as well as domestic animals away from the motorcade route.

A boy poses for a picture beside a life-sized standee of Pope Francis’ image in front of the St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Camp Lapu-Lapu in barangay Apas , Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Open spaces

Buildings with upper floors can’t be occupied while the pope’s motorcade is in motion.

People on the streets will only be allowed on the left side of the road  going to Palo from Tacloban. The right side  will be occupied by policemen.

However, open spaces in the right side can be  used to accommodate the spillover of well-wishers during the motorcade.

The popemobile will not be enclosed, not bullet-proofed and will not be airconditioned, making Pope Francis visible to the public.

Authorities consider the vehicles’ design  a “security nightmare,” but it was Pope Francis himself who asked that the vehicle’s  features  highlight the Church’s relationship with the Catholic faithful and be a symbol of  compassion for  the people.

Steel and wooden barriers and ropes will be placed at cross roads. Ambulances and fire trucks will  be prepositioned along  the motorcade route.

The pope mobile will traverse from the airport to the Cola-Cola junction in Tacloban City, turn left to Robinson’s Mall, all the way to the Archbishop’s Residence for a  scheduled lunch with calamity victims at 1 p.m.

The pope will stay at the Archbishop’s Residence until 4 p.m. where he will have  a 30-minute “siesta”  then  bless the Pope Francis Center for the Poor.

Then he will go to the Palo Cathedral to address priests and some survivors, and bless the mass grave where 150 bodies of those killed during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda were buried.

Pope Francis will be secured by the Presidential Security Group while a member of the Swiss Guards or the pope’s security detail will drive the popemobile.

Chief Supt. Dolina  said the policemen will avoid human contact with the crowd as much as possible. They wo’t confiscate prohibited objects but a pilgrim who breaks the rules won’t be allowed to enter the papal Mass area.  It’s the Church’s security committee who shall have custody of prohibited items during the papal visit.