AFP: No security threats for Black Nazarene feast

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MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines has not monitored any security threats for Thursday’s Feast of the Black Nazarene.

“As of last briefing today (Wednesday) we have not monitored any threats that will disrupt the activities of the Black Nazarene,” Colonel Manuel Santiago, commander of the Joint Task Force National Capital Region, said Wednesday.

The lead unit in security operations for Thursday’s activity is the Philippine National Police, he also said, adding that the military only augments in the operations.

Military troops will be on standby but seven Explosive Ordnance teams with K-9 and eight ambulances will be deployed, Santiago said.

In 2012, President Benigno Aquino III warned of a terror threat before the Black Nazarene procession.

The feast, one of the biggest religious events in the country, was not canceled, but it prompted the government to ask telecommunication companies to jam phone signals along the Nazarene route.

Cell phones are known to detonate bombs.

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