Low turnout for Marian traslacion in Manila

Manila (Google maps)

Organizers hoped for about a million devotees to join the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the historic arrival of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel image in the country, but only a few thousand devotees appeared.

The Manila Police District (MPD) estimated the crowd to be at most 5,000 for the entire celebration on Friday, from the fluvial procession in Manila Bay to the “traslacion” from Quirino Grandstand to San Sebastian Church.

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Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo admitted that the low turnout may have been “because not everyone knew about it.”

“Maybe, there was lack of media blitz and may be it was not well promoted,” Pabillio said.

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Fr. Emeterio Bunao, vice president for administration at San Sebastian College, admitted that he had doubts that the target would be met.

“To me personally (seeing) the crowd that was there, I don’t think we got the one million crowd,” Bunao said.

“But I believe that the power of the Blessed Virgin Mary is powerful enough that it could gather a crowd, and I think she did and the people believed,” he said.

The celebration, Bunao said, may have garnered more attendees if it was held during school days, explaining that there were many schools ran by Agustinian Recollects that would encourage students to participate.

The religious image, which arrived in the Philippines 400 years ago, was brought by Augustinian Recollect friars.

The celebration started with a fluvial procession in Manila Bay on Friday before dawn at the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters.

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Following the fluvial procession, the image was then transported to the Quirino Grandstand where a mass led by Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles would be held.

The MPD monitored more or less 4,000 devotees during the mass that was held at around 7:00 a.m.

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After the mass, seminarians distributed about a hundred thousand scapulars to devotees.

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The procession of the Marian image from Quirino Grandstand to the San Sebastian Church started at around 8:00 a.m. The MPD said about 5,000 devotees accompanied the image during the procession.

The image arrived at the San Sebastian Church at 10:53 a.m. /jpv