InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA -- (UPDATE 5 - 7:27 p.m.) A human sea of Catholic pilgrims flooded the Philippine capital on Monday to join a religious march, police said, defying government warnings of a potential terror attack on the annual festival.
Barefoot men and women wearing maroon shirts waved white towels and handkerchiefs as the "Black Nazarene," a life-size icon of Jesus Christ carrying a cross, was paraded on the capital's streets.
National television aired live footage of a huge crowd at Manila's Rizal Park at the start of a procession that was expected to last until early evening, but which at press time authorities estimated would extend near midnight before reaching Quiapo Church.
As of 4 p.m., the procession was still crawling its way along P. Burgos Street, particularly in front of Lagusnilad near the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, police said.
An estimated 3 million people are actually joining the procession, with others lining up the route. Police estimate 24 persons sustained minor injuries from the procession. But the Philippine Red Cross reported that it served 161 people throughout the procession, including those who requested for a blood pressure check.
The Philippines is the largest mainly Roman Catholic nation in Asia, a legacy of the country's Spanish colonial past.
The "Black Nazarene" march is one of the most spectacular of many religious festivals that feature throughout the year, and police estimated between two and three million people turned up on Monday to be part of the crowd.
Many Filipinos attribute miraculous powers to the icon, which a Spanish priest brought to the Philippines in 1607.
Terror warning
The huge turnout came amid a warning by President Benigno Aquino on the eve of the festival that authorities had uncovered a plot to attack the event, potentially with a bomb triggered by a mobile phone.
"The sad reality of the world today is that terrorists want to disrupt the ability of the people to live their lives in the way they want to, including the freedom to worship and engage in community activities," Aquino said.
National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia said Monday that authorities were looking for up to nine people from the southern Philippines who could be involved in the plot.
He and other officials did not specifically identify the potential attackers, but the southern Philippines is well known as being home to a wide range of Islamic militant groups.
Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, rector of Quiapo Church, said they had considered postponing the procession after Aquino’s warning but decide to push through after holding several consultations.
Ignacio said they expect more devotees this year despite the threat.
In fact, he said, “one of our policemen even said that the announcement of a terror threat may prompt more people to come based on the psychology of Filipinos.”
“We need to understand the heart of the devotees. We need to understand how deep their convictions (are) especially on this day …” he added.
Boyet Dalman, 48, who has been joining the procession for 27 years, said the terrorist threat would not stop him from doing his yearly devotion.
“Syempre naniniwala kami na hindi kami pababayaan ng Diyos at poprotektahin kami sa ano mang hindi kanais-nais na pangyayari (Of course we believe that God will not leave us alone and will protect us from harm),” Dalman said.
He said he became a devotee because of his daughter, who was in and out of hospital because of a lung ailment. “Simula nang naging deboto ako, hindi na siya nagkakasakit. Hanggang ngayon, hindi na ako bumibitaw sa kanya (Since I became a devotee, she has not been sick. Up to now, I have not turned my back on the Nazarene),” he said teary-eyed.
“Ngayon ang aking dasal na sana dagdagan pa ng Diyos ang buhay ng aking ina na may cancer sa colon,” he said.
Dalman said his mother is still alive although her doctor had given her only until May last year, three months after she was diagnosed.
While at least 80 percent of the Philippines' population of 94 million are Catholic, about another four percent are Muslim.
Most of the Philippines' Islamic minority live in the south, and Muslim rebels have been waging a decades-old armed separatist insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
One of the most infamous Islamic militant groups is the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for the country's worst attacks including the bombing of a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 in which more than 100 people died.
The long and winding road
The image of the Black Nazarene made its slow crawl from the Quirino Grandstand in Manila to the historic Quiapo Church on Monday morning, as an estimated 3 million people joined in the procession to celebrate the Feast of the Black Nazarene.
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said the start of the procession was delayed as throngs of people struggled to get a hold of the rope even before the mass ended at the Quirino Grandstand.
Radio and television reports said more than 100 people were injured during the pushing and pulling as devotees toppled barricades and fences, as well as in scattered incidents along the procession route.
Red Cross tallies sick, wounded
The Philippine Red Cross attended to at least 256 devotees who fell ill or were hurt during the procession.
Despite persistent calls of the Church and civil authorities to refrain from having children and pregnant women join the procession, a 28-year-old pregnant woman was in the crowd, and was rushed to the Ospital ng Maynila after she felt dizzy.
An asthmatic girl, 13, was also rushed to the Ospital ng Manila after having difficulty in breathing.
Two old males, ages 62 and 56, experienced fever and chills, and chest pains respectively, and both were rushed to the Philippine General Hospital.
Other cases involved wound injuries, exhaustion, fainting, seizures and dehydration.
The Red Cross brought 17 devotees to Ospital ng Maynila, Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and University of Santo Tomas (UST).
It deployed 350 employees and volunteers with 19 ambulances were deployed in different areas in Metro Manila.
Stalled by damaged wheel
It was only before 8 a.m. when the procession started, inching its way slowly through the streets of Manila.
As of 9 a.m., the procession was just in front of the Manila Hotel in P. Burgos.
At around 10:30 a.m., the float carrying the holy image stalled near the corner of P. Burgos and Roxas Boulevard after a screw was dislodged from a wheel.
Procession organizers attempted to transfer the image to a police truck but the devotees pulling the float would not allow this.
The float began moving again past 11 a.m., although it could only advance a few meters before being forced to stop from the crush of devotees seeking to touch the image.
With the way things are going, police expect the image to return to Quiapo Church at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. The earliest is 10 p.m.
The number of people waiting in Quiapo Church is estimated at 5,000.
