SECURITY will be tight in Dagupan when some 500 dignitaries, including high-ranking Catholic Church officials, flock to the city to witness the canonical installation of Bishop Socrates Villegas as archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan on November 4.

Villegas, 49, former bishop of Balanga in Bataan, succeeds Archbishop Oscar Cruz whose retirement at the age of 75 was accepted September 8 this year by the Holy See.

The canonical installation rites, slated at the St. John the Evangelist Metropolitan Cathedral on Burgos Street, will be held at 9:00 a.m.

Cruz assumed as archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in August 1991, replacing then Archbishop Federico Limon.

Archbishop Villegas will be the youngest archbishop in the country. Prior to his post in Balanga, he was auxiliary bishop during the reign of Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin.

Police Provincial Director Percival Barba said an elaborate security plan for dignitaries and all those attending the rites are in place for the installation rites.

REROUTING PLANS

A rerouting plan will be implemented that day by the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) in Dagupan.

Burgos-Jovellanos Streets and Burgos-Bonifacio Streets as well as Zamora Street will be temporarily closed from 9:00-9:30 a.m. to give way to the procession of the entourage of Villegas from the Archbishop’s palace down to the Old Cathedral.

While the installation rite is ongoing, motorists along A.B. Fernandez Avenue will have to turn left on Rizal Street towards Perez Boulevard.

Westbound vehicles will have to proceed to AB Fernandez West, then left to Careenan Street towards   Sec. Francisco Duque St., then to Burgos Extension  in Tapuac.

Private vehicles are advised to take the Dawel-Pantal-Lucao Diversion Road.

There will be one-way traffic on a portion of AB Fernandez Avenue leading to Galvan Street and towards  Zamora Street; and from the corner of Careenan Street towards Bonifacio Street; from corner of  Sec. Francisco Duque Street-Careenan Street towards Tapuac; from the corner of Zamora-Jovellanos Streets towards  Burgos.

Other one-way and two-way streets as provided in City Ordinance 1748-2002 will stay.

Designated parking areas are ABFA-Zamora Streets up to Jovellanos Street (east side only), St. John Cathedral School Compound, Rivera Street up to Rizal Street (south side only), single lane parking from Burgos Street (Lim Pan) to Burgos Street-Perez Boulevard (west and eastside), and along Bonifacio Street (south side only), single lane parking from AB Fernandez Avenue-Zamora Street from Babaliwan Area (north and south side), West Central Elementary School Compound, City Plaza, Poolside Compound, west and east side of  Burgos Extension and north side of Jovellanos Street.

Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. has also instructed the city police and the POSO to ensure maximum security to the people attending Villegas’ installation rite.—LM

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