Sen. Richard Gordon (right), PRC chairman and CEO, was the guest on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2019, at the Pandesal Forum in Quezon City. Beside him is forum moderator Wilson Lee Flores. (Photo from a video at the Facebook account of the forum)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Tuesday advised the public to stay hydrated and to avoid going barefoot during the procession of the image of the Black Nazarene, which is expected to draw more than six million devotees this year.
“Usually we have dehydration problems. There’s a lot of people. It’s hot so you need to stay hydrated. We have water stations along the procession route,” Sen. Richard Gordon, who’s also PRC chairman, said, speaking partly in Filipino, at the weekly Pandesal Forum held on Tuesday at the Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City.
“It’s better if you have your own water, but don’t throw away the plastic bottles,” he added.
He also discouraged devotees who have medical concerns, such as high blood pressure. as well as those with common ailments like cough, colds or fever from joining the procession.
“If you have special conditions and high blood pressure, you have a heart condition you should as much as possible don’t go, God is everywhere. He’s omnipresent anyway. Of course, if you have a condition don’t hesitate to approach the Red Cross or people from the DOH [Department of Health] who will be there,” he said.
“If you have a cough try not to go there anymore. It will just exacerbate it. If you have a fever — as you know there’s such a disease in China and we still don’t know what it is yet… So it’s always better to get away from crowds… because you’ll just get others sick,” he added.
Gordon also reminded devotees not to bring along babies or children in the procession.
He also warned devotees against going barefoot.
“Make sure you’re wearing shoes or slippers because at times there’s broken glass on roads or the surface of the road is too hot,” he said.
According to Gordon, around 50 ambulances staffed by trained PRC personnel will be on standby.
Fifteen ambulances will be on the ground, he noted.
Gordon added that around 1,000 volunteers would be deployed to assist devotees.
He said 13 first aid stations would be spread out along the procession route.
Gordon also said that the PRC had prepared several gathering sites in the event of a stampede.
Amphibian vehicles and rubber boats would also be deployed.
“So we’re all alert we have amphibians in the water. So that in case people fall… or are pushed and (we) have at least three rubber boats to rescue people,” he said. “You know this is a symphony. Everybody’s got a role to play in the Red Cross. All our departments are there, our first aiders, our health our disaster management.”
/atm