DEVOTEES Several people still trooped to Quiapo Church on Sunday, a day after the Feast of the Black Nazarene. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Despite the estimated 500,000 people who flocked to Quiapo Church to celebrate the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Saturday, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and the city police insisted on Sunday that minimum health standards to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus were observed during the mass gathering.
In an online broadcast, Domagoso said devotees were “disciplined” as they attended the 15 Masses celebrated in different churches in the city, with attendance limited to 400 people per Mass in each church.
“Generally, we were able to celebrate the Feast of the Black Nazarene peacefully and safely, while devotees and residents practiced self-discipline as a way of looking after themselves,” he added.
To prevent a potential “superspreader” event, authorities canceled the annual “traslacion,” or the procession of the image of the Black Nazarene from Quirino Grandstand to Quiapo Church, considered the largest Catholic event in the country. Last year, the police estimated that around 2 million devotees took part in the procession that lasted nearly 17 hours.
The cancellation of the traslacion also resulted in less trash compared to previous years, according to the city government.
Data from the Department of Public Services on Sunday showed that the amount of garbage hauled from Friday to Sunday reached 110 metric tons, filling up a total of 42 garbage trucks. It was significantly lower than the 330 metric tons collected last year and the 387 metric tons in 2019.
This year, devotees who could not attend the scheduled Masses in the churches of Quiapo, San Sebastian and Santa Cruz were encouraged to follow the live broadcasts online.
Police Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco, Manila Police District (MPD) director, said despite the nearly half a million people who joined the feast day celebration starting 4 a.m., there were no untoward incidents.
“We can [assure you] that 100 percent of the devotees practiced the minimum health standards. When we saw that some of them did not have masks and face shields on, we provided them with protective gear at our control points,” he said in a radio interview on Sunday.
Several photos of the event that circulated on social media, however, showed many people not observing physical distancing or improperly wearing their masks and face shields.
In a text message to the Inquirer, Francisco denied reports saying that devotees failed to observe social distancing when a priest went to bless them with holy water outside Quiapo Church.
Despite photos and news reports showing that the incident happened on Saturday, Francisco insisted that it happened at a different time.
“That event did not happen on Saturday. You can look at the surrounding [areas] and the setup around the church during that time,” he said.
The last Mass ended at 11:15 p.m. when the MPD said there were only about 7,000 people left around the vicinity of the church.
By 11:45 p.m., there were no longer any devotees due to the midnight to 4 a.m. curfew in the city, Francisco said.
The Department of Health earlier warned devotees to undergo self-quarantine and closely monitor themselves for any COVID-19 symptoms after the event.
Fr. Jerome Secillano, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, lauded the organizers of the event for “[doing] a great job in implementing their plans based on prevailing circumstances.”
“It’s the call of health experts to encourage people who attended the fiesta celebration to undergo self-quarantine. They know better than us. The goal is to minimize the risk of transmitting the virus and not to restrict anyone’s right to anything,” he said. —With a report from Jhesset O. Enano INQ