The government on Friday announced the easing of more quarantine restrictions, including raising the number of people permitted to worship inside churches, but for Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, these were not enough to allow next year’s “Traslacion.”
For the first time since it started in January 1787, the annual religious procession will be canceled due to the continuing threat from the new coronavirus, which causes the severe respiratory disease COVID-19.
‘Not workable’
The procession, the highlight of the Feast of the Black Nazarene, attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees who walk barefoot ahead of and behind the life-size image of Christ carrying the cross while jostling for a position to touch the statue, which is believed to be miraculous.
It starts at the grandstand in Luneta early in the morning of Jan. 9, winds through the major streets of Manila to its destination—Quiapo Church—taking 18 to 22 hours to complete. Hundreds of thousands more line the streets to watch the procession, making it a potential virus superspreader event.
Fr. Douglas Badong, parochial vicar of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, said they were saddened by the cancellation but urged the faithful to follow health protocols as the decision was prompted only by the pandemic.
“We understand the decision. We proposed to the local government but the mayor thinks the procession is not workable. It’s really hard to do the procession from Luneta to Quiapo,” Badong said.
Localized ‘Traslacion’
He said that there were options to bring people to the Nazarene such as localized Traslacion.
“We will ask for help from local Churches for the Masses for the feast of the Nazarene. If they can host their own processions in their areas, they can do that. If the procession won’t happen in Quiapo, it will happen elsewhere. They can do simultaneous procession, motorcade and this depends on the situation,” Badong said.
There will be more novena Masses every hour for the nine days of the feast, instead of the usual daily Mass, to compensate for the procession’s absence, he added.
Quoting Domagoso, Badong said the decision to cancel the Traslacion may change if the situation improves, such as the availability of a vaccine.
From 10% to 30%
In an afternoon Mass on Friday, Badong thanked God for the new quarantine rules that increased the number of people allowed into a church for Masses, from 10 percent to 30 percent of its capacity.
The increase in the number of churchgoers was in addition to the easing of other quarantine restrictions, including the resumption of operations of motorcycle taxis, decided by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Speaking on government television network PTV4 on Friday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the decision to expand religious gatherings would give Filipinos the opportunity to observe the traditional dawn Masses leading to Christmas.
He noted that Metro Manila mayors agreed to shorten curfew hours, from midnight to 3 a. m., in December.
Roque said motorcycle taxi operations by Angkas and Joyride would still be under study as the law currently prohibits the use of motorcycles as public transportation.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board would issue guidelines on their operation.
“What’s good is that there is no more obstacle [to their operation],” Roque said.
Foreigners in PH business
The IATF also removed the negative antigen test requirement for Filipinos traveling abroad, but said the airline or the country of destination may still require a negative COVID-19 test.
It also allowed foreign nationals doing business in the Philippines to enter the country beginning Nov. 1.
The IATF said those with investors’ visas, special nonimmigrant visas issued by the Department of Justice, and visas issued by the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority could enter the country starting next month.
They should have a pre-booked accredited quarantine facility and would be subject to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of entry.