Philippine Coast Guards keep watch as Roman Catholic devotees cross the bridge in a raucous procession of the Black Nazarene to celebrate its feast day Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, in Manila. (AP)
MANILA, Philippines —Around four million devotees joined all activities of this year’s Traslacion which celebrated the Feast of the Black Nazarene, Director Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said on Thursday.
Around 1.5 million devotees joined activities leading up to the Traslacion since December 31 until January 8, while another 2.5 million devotees joined from January 9 to 10, the NCRPO said.
The Traslacion is the commemoration of the transfer from Intramuros of the life-size image of the Black Nazarene to the Quiapo Church. This year’s Traslacion procession went through a 6.1 kilometer route and lasted for 21 hours and seven minutes, Eleazar said.
According to Eleazar, the feast was generally peaceful, with only one pickpocketing incident reported. He said the suspect was arrested.
“They (devotees) owned this activity or program. Naging maayos dahil sa lahat ng concerned agencies ay ginawa ang kanilang mga assignment (It was peaceful because all concerned agencies fulfilled their assignment),” he told reporters.
Around 7,200 police officers were deployed to ensure the safety of the devotees, Eleazar said.
“Andito ang kapulisan [for] more than one day na walang palitan ng uniporme, walang tulugan, walang pahinga. I would like to commend ang ating kapulisan,” he said.
(Police officers were here for more than one day without changing clothes, having sleep or rest. I would like to commend our officers.)
Eleazar added that this year’s Traslacion was better than last year’s.
“Naging mas maayos ngayon but gusto pa natin mas pagandahin pa for Traslacion (It was peaceful this year but we want to make it better for the Traslacion),” he said.
Meanwhile, no casualties were reported throughout the event, said Senior Supt. Vicente Danao Jr., chief of the Manila Police District. /muf