Nazareno 2025: Full deployment, gun ban, road closures on Jan. 8 – MPD

INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS/JEROME CRISTOBAL

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Police District (MPD) personnel will be fully deployed on January 8, and a gun ban and road closures will be enforced ahead of the Feast of the Black Nazarene on January 9.

The MPD announced this at a press conference with the feast organizers at the Nazarene Catholic School in Quiapo, Manila on Friday, January 3.

“As of now, this is a week-long activity. There are already many activities, especially in the Quiapo area, continuously. But we have what we call skeletal deployment. Come January 8, in the evening, it will be in full deployment,” MPD Director PBGen. Arnold Thomas Ibay said in Filipino.

The National Capital Region Police Office is set to deploy over 14,000 personnel to ensure the safety of devotees during the Traslacion, or the procession of the image of the Black Nazarene.

READ: NCRPO deploys over 14,000 personnel for Nazareno 2025

Ibay said the law enforcement’s contingent included officers from Police Regional Offices 3 (Central Luzon) and 4A (Calabarzon) as well as the Special Action Force.

He added that the MPD would be enforcing a gun ban in Manila, while Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said there would be a liquor ban in Quiapo beginning January 8, ahead of the feast.

READ: Gun, liquor ban to start Jan. 8 in Manila for Nazareno 2025

Ibay also announced that roads would be closed along the route of the Traslacion, or the procession of the image of the Black Nazarene, as the police are on “heightened alert” for the celebration despite no threats being monitored.

READ: MPD on ‘heightened alert’ despite no threat to Nazareno 2025

Support from AFP, PCG, BFP

To aid law enforcement, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) committed 1,000 of its personnel from the Army, the Navy, the Marines, and the Air Force (PAF), according to Col. Romel Recinto.

Recinto said AFP members would be deployed at the Quirino Grandstand, the starting point of the image’s procession; and at entry and exit points in Manila. He added that a drone from the PAF will be used to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will be enforcing a “no-sail zone” in an area within a one-kilometer radius from the Quirino Grandstand from 12 noon of January 6 to 12 noon of Jan. 10.

The PCG’s Cdr. Bernard Ventura said 1,000 personnel would be augmenting police officers, including from its medical team and K9-Explosive Ordinance Disposal group.

Further, while it will not be issuing a notice to airmen for the Traslacion, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Quirino Grandstand and Quiapo Church were within the RP-P1 airspace, where lateral and vertical flying were already prohibited.

According to CAAP’s advisory Friday, RP-P1 (RP stands for Republic of the Philippines, while P1 is the code designated for the respective airspace) encompasses an area with a radius of 2 nautical miles (3.70 kilometers) and a height of 5,500 feet (1.67 kms) from Malacañang Palace.

For its part, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will be deploying eight firetrucks along with medical and hazardous material teams in different staging areas as early as the “Pahalik”, or the kissing of the image of the Black Nazarene.

The Pahalik will begin after a mass for the volunteers on January 6.

FSSupt. Douglas Guiyab, BFP NCR assistant regional director for operations, said a specialized running card system would be employed and support groups from the capital’s Fire Districts 2 and 3 would be on standby in case of a fire in Manila.

Nazareno 2025 is themed “Mas mabuti ang pagsunod kaysa paghahandog (1 Sam. 15:22) sa mga umaasa kay Jesus.”

(It is better to obey than to sacrifice for those who hope in Jesus. 1 Sam. 15:22.)

“We are calling on all devotees to note that the expression of their faith also includes ‘obedience,’ so that we will be more orderly,” Quiapo Church Rector and Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Jun Sescon Jr. said in Filipino.

READ: Quiapo Church releases schedule for Nazareno 2025 activities

READ: Triple the expected number: Over 6.5-M devotees join Nazarene procession

Last year, the Translacion saw over 6.5 million devotees.