PH govt, private firms ready for upcoming FIBAWC 2023

As the opening ceremonies of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 draws near, various government offices and private firms have announced their respective share on mitigating possible heavy traffic on Friday.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) announced that it will deploy personnel on the three venues (Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the Mall of Asia in Pasay City, and the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan) to assist motorists.

LTO Law Enforcement Service (LES) Director Francis Almora said all their available resources composed of patrol vehicles, motorcycle patrols and 41 law enforcers would be tapped to help secure the roads and manage traffic from August 25- September 10.

“The instruction of Assistant Secretary (Vigor) Mendoza is for us to be in full force in assisting other government agencies for the event. So the LTO will be there to do its job in coordination with other law enforcement agencies,” Almora said.

Per Almora, the LTO-LES personnel will provide road security escorts for the players from their hotels and to the venues, and vice versa. He added that the LTO personnel are also directed to assist in traffic management in the venues.

“We have committed all our vehicles and personnel and they will be always on standby 24 hours until the conclusion of this event,” said Almora.

Meanwhile, NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) Corporation urged motorists to plan their trips ahead, saying that it is expecting a heavy traffic build-up on the basketball meet’s opening ceremonies

As basketball fans are expected to flock the venue in Bulacan, the tollway firm shared that it will install more than 200 traffic personnel and incident response teams at strategic areas inside Ciudad de Victoria and around NLEX.

The company also shared that it shall put up directional signage for motorists going to the Philippine Arena. Additionally, it will provide point-to-point (P2P) shuttle service to and from the Philippine Arena from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. at the following locations:

• Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange Bus Terminal
• Mall of Asia Arena
• One Ayala Bus Terminal
• BGC Market Market Bus Terminal
• SM Megamall
• Araneta City
• Trinoma
• SM North
• Ayala Cloverleaf Mall Bus Terminal
• SM Baliuag
• SM Pampanga
• SM Clark

NLEX Corporation noted that the P2P buses will be ferrying passengers back to the drop-off points after the Gilas Pilipinas game against the Dominican Republic.

Further, the NLEX Corporation reminded motorists to have Easytrip radio-frequency identification (RFID) stickers installed in their vehicles and make sure that their accounts have sufficient load.

The Philippine Arena gates, the NLEX Corporation noted, will be opened by noontime and will be closed by 5:30 p.m. Only P2P buses and vehicles with valid vehicle access and parking permits shall be allowed to enter the premises starting 5:30 p.m.

Motorists are only allowed to park in the Philippine Arena and additional parking areas around Bocaue and Sta. Maria bypass roads.

For its part, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said that as early as July, the District Engineering Offices in Metro Manila were instructed to extend support to the Philippine Sports Commission by ensuring that the designated FIBA routes are in good condition.

“We have conducted pothole operations ensuring national roads leading to event venues such as the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City and Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City are well-maintained,” public works secretary Manuel Bonoan said.

Bonoan added that emergency road repairs were also undertaken along portions of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) Carousel that were damaged by the recent typhoon and monsoon rains.

To ease traffic during the country’s FIBA hosting, DPWH road works in NCR will be suspended, except on flagship projects and emergency road repairs.

Earlier, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) prohibited establishments along EDSA and other areas affected by the FIBA World Cup 2023 to conduct mall-wide sales.

However, the agency said that it will not suspend the expanded unified vehicular volume reduction program (UVVRP) — commonly known as number coding scheme — on Friday (August 25).

Photos from FIBA, NLEX Corporation, Land Transportation Office, Ruben Manahan IV, and the Department of Public Works and Highways

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