MANILA – The ASEAN Security Task Force (ASTF) decided to cut short the convoy dry run scheduled Sunday (Oct. 22) due to heavy traffic along Edsa near Connecticut, where public works crews were rushing a re-blocking to deal with a suspected sinkhole.
ASTF Commander P/Dir. Nap Taas, riding in the second convoy that left Clark International Airport at exactly 10:30 am, encountered the tail end of the traffic at the corner of Edsa and Quezon Avenue.
It turned out that the traffic was due to a road repair along Edsa corner Connecticut that was reduced to just two lanes.
Reportedly, the repair was due to a sinkhole that was just recently discovered.
According to Taas, only two of their convoys were able to complete the rehearsal from Clark to the designated hotels.
“It was still a successful run OVERALL since all our 20 convoys were able to rehearse the Clark and NLEX leg of the ceremonial route. We still have three weeks to practice the Edsa leg of the route,” he said.
Sunday’s dry run is the fourth one conducted by the ASTF through the Technical Working Group on Traffic Management.
The series of convoy dry runs is part of the preparations being undertaken by the Committee on Security, Peace and Order, Emergency Preparedness and Response (CSPOEPR) for the upcoming 31st ASEAN Summit this November.
The CSPOEPR is composed of 21-member agencies headed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
