Nazareno 2026: Traslacion may exceed 21 hours, officials say

MANILA, Philippines — The traditional procession of the image of Jesus Nazarene, known as the Traslacion, may exceed more than 21 hours in length, said the Quiapo Church Command Post on Friday.

This, as the andas carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno was still at Arlegui St. in Manila as of this writing — still way away from home in Quiapo Church after the procession started at 3:58 a.m. from the Quirino Grandstand.

The Andas first arrived in Arlegui Street at around 3:20 p.m., which means the carriage had been held in the street for over four hours.

Quiapo Church communications coordinator Silgen Cabrito attributed the delay to devotees who “seem to be more aggressive in reaching the front of the image.”

“Most of them would stop in front of the andas and pray, and then try to climb to touch the glass,” said Cabrito in Filipino through Viber.

Cabrito said the average time and motion of the andas was already 3.5 hours per kilometer before it reached Arlegui Street.

“The Arlegui streets are narrow, and then the bigger crowd arrived,” added Cabrito.

“If the current pace remains, we might exceed more than 21 hours,” he added.

Based on the latest crowd estimates from the command post, a total of 783,200 devotees were recorded joining the Feast of the Jesus Nazarene as of 5 p.m.

Around 85,000 of the number are within the vicinity of Quiapo Church, while 698,200 are joining the procession. /mr