900 soldiers to be deployed for Feast of Black Nazarene

Some 900 soldiers will be deployed for the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Saturday.

Colonel Restituto Padilla, military spokesperson, said the soldiers will come from the Joint Task Force – National Capital Region (JTF-NCR).

The JTF-NCR is headed by Brig. Gen. Apolinario Alobba, who also headed the military’s security preparations during Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit last November.

“They will help the policemen in securing the procession. This will include our assets in our security coverage,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

The Philippine National Police is the lead agency that will take care of the security preparations on Saturday.

A total of 4,000 troops, mostly policemen, will be deployed on the day of the feast.

Padilla said there will be additional soldiers and assets on standby.

He also echoed the police assessment that there are no security threats to the procession, which is expected to attract millions of devotees.

The seven-kilometer procession starts from Quirino Grandstand to Quiapo Church.

“We have not monitored any threats on the side of the AFP and it’s the same with the PNP,” Padilla said.

But the spokesperson said he sees the crowd control issue as a serious concern.

“This is mostly the cause of injuries. Sometimes the participants let their emotions take over and forget the reminders of the organizers,” Padilla said.