MANILA, Philippines — The National Capital Region Police Office on Wednesday said the 22-hour long Black Nazarene procession or “Traslacion” was generally peaceful.
Director Oscar Albayalde, NCRPO chief, cited that there were no serious incidents recorded during the religious event. He said they received a report of a missing cell phone but had yet to confirm if it was stolen or simply misplaced.
He added that no one violated the gun and liquor ban for the Black Nazarene event. Both bans were lifted on Wednesday.
To further secure the procession, telecommunication companies were also asked to jam signals. Albayalde said using phones during the procession was unnecessary.
Albayalde reported that around 3.5 million devotees joined the procession, which ended at around 3:00 a.m.
The NCRPO chief credited the success of the religious event to the cooperative devotees of the Black Nazarene, the thousands of government forces who secured the procession route, and the organizers led by Monsignor Ding Coronel.
“Mas cooperative ang devotees ngayon, (Devotees have been more cooperative this year,)” Albayalde said in a televised interview.
Philippine Red Cross reported that it catered to 1,057 patients. Among those, 386 were recorded with minor injuries while 53 got major injuries.
Traslacion is the commemoration of the transfer of the Black Nazarene image from its original home in Intramuros, Manila to Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church.
This year, Albayalde said around 150,000 attended the pahalik or the practice of kissing the feet of the Black Nazarene image in Quirino Grandstand while an estimated 600,000 people attended the evening mass.