MANILA, Philippines – The Manila Police District (MPD) will introduce technological innovations to the annual Black Nazarene traditional procession to ensure the safety of devotees.

MPD Director Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales revealed that organizers of the annual procession have agreed to the installation of a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device on the carriage of the Black Nazarene.

Rosales said the tracking device would provide the MPD with the real time location of the procession as it progresses while closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in at least three street corners would provide police personnel with a highly reliable peek into the situation on the ground. (See Procession route and traffic advisory story.)

“Using handheld radios, the information relayed to headquarters face delay because of the noise. Keeping track of the procession in real time would provide us with enough time to react to situations on the ground,” the MPD director pointed out.

He stressed that the organizers have agreed to and welcome the MPD scheme as he added that should there be fine weather, small hot air balloons carrying cameras could also be deployed.

The hot air balloons were first deployed last year on All Saints’ Day, monitoring the movement of people visiting cemeteries.

“This will be a good dry-run for our gadgets although they have yet to be formally launched in time for the MPD’s anniversary on Tuesday,” Rosales revealed.

Apart from the high-tech gadgetry, the MPD has included old-fashioned security preparations with the deployment of 600 police personnel and 1,200 civilian volunteers.

Thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene are expected to turn up today for the reenactment of the “translacion,” the transfer of the miraculous icon from its original home in Intramuros to Quiapo.

The icon was brought Thursday to the Luneta Grandstand for an overnight vigil. The reenactment of the transfer will start from Luneta, however, instead of Intramuros.

Ignacio said they drew up a new route for the procession to decongest the crowd and prevent further accidents and even deaths.

Meanwhile, it could be a wet celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene today.

PAGASA Thursday said that a tail end of the cold front might bring rains to Metro Manila, Central and Southern Luzon and Eastern Visayas. With report from Alcuin Papa