Black Nazarene procession going faster than last year

Catholic devotees mount the image of the Black Nazarene on a hearse prior to a raucous procession to celebrate its feast day Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, in Manila. A massive crowd of mostly barefoot Catholics joined an annual procession of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ under tight security amidst fears of possible attacks by Islamic extremists. (Photo by BULLIT MARQUEZ / AP)

This year’s Traslacion of the Black Nazarene has so far gone smoothly and faster than in 2017, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said Tuesday evening.

“Overall so far so good. Wala tayong nakitang problema [We did not see any problem]. Very smooth ang takbo,” Dela Rosa told reporters in an ambush interview in Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila.

Dela Rosa said the Manila Police District had implemented slight revisions in the flow of the annual procession, such as the disallowing of the replicas to go near the Andas, or the carriage carrying the Black Nazarene, an effort implemented for the first time this year.

As of posting time, the Traslacion has not yet ended. But according to Dela Rosa, the procession has gone faster by two hours than last year and is expected to end before midnight.

Chief Supt. Joel Coronel, MPD chief, attributed this to the strong coordination among the police, Quiapo Church, and devotees.

“Yung pakikipagtulungan natin sa mga mamamayan dahil nagkaroon tayo ng six coordinating meetings with them, napag-usapang mabuti ang rutang dadaanan,” Coronel said.

[In our interaction with citizens through six coordinating meetings, we were able to talk thoroughly about the route.]

Dela Rosa said he was satisfied with the performance of the MPD and gave the district a 9.95 out of 10 rating for the smooth Traslacion.

As of 6 p.m., the Plaza Miranda Police Community Precinct estimated that about 4.55 million devotees had flocked to Quiapo – 2.6 million of which joined the procession. /atm