INC evangelical mission ‘peaceful’, police say

TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE. Hundreds of commuter buses clog the whole Roxas Boulevard as they ferry people to attend a grand evangelical mission by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of God) Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 in Manila. AP

MANILA, Philippines – Except for the children who got lost, the grand evangelical mission held Tuesday by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of God) was “generally peaceful” with “no untoward incident”, the head of the task force assigned to secure the religious event said.

Senior Superintendent Robert Po, of INC-GEM (grand evangelical mission), said that 18 cases of children who went missing but were also found were reported as the prayer gathering started at 5 p.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m.

“Only four children remain unclaimed at the post when I left to go around the grandstand,” Po said.

He said that if more children would be taken to their post, security officers would wait for their guardians until 9 p.m. If unclaimed, the children would be temporarily taken to the nearest police office.

He said 547 police officers were deployed early Tuesday to maintain order around the more than 500,000 square meter Rizal Park, including Independence Road, Katigbak Road and South Drive.

Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr, Philippine National Police spokesman, said that the latest estimate of the crowd, including those along Roxas Boulevard from Delpan to the Philippine International Convention Center, was around 600,000.