Metro Manila on alert status for Nazarene feast

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila disaster response officials have been placed on blue alert status to help police secure the conduct of tomorrow’s Feast of the Black Nazarene.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Danilo Lim yesterday raised the blue alert for disaster and emergency response of the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRMC), which is composed of all concerned national government agencies and local risk reduction and management councils in the metropolis.

Lim is concurrent head of the MMDRRMC. The blue alert status for the council’s disaster and emergency response units will last until Jan. 10.

Under blue alert, the MMDRMC is placed on standby to respond to disasters and emergencies that may arise during the annual Traslacion, said MMDA chief of staff Michael Salalima, who is also focal person for disaster risk reduction.

The MMDA will deploy 1,000 personnel to assist the police in securing the religious procession.

Lim yesterday inspected the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila where devotees lined up to kiss the Black Nazarene image, a religious activity called “Pahalik” that precedes the procession.

Lim said the MMDA’s Public Safety Office will provide emergency and medical assistance, and the Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group and Metro Parkways Clearing Group will provide crowd control during the “pahalik” and remove obstructions along the procession route.

The MMDA’s traffic enforcers will manage traffic in Quirino Grandstand and Quiapo Church and also conduct clearing operations along the route, Lim added.

This year’s procession will start at Quirino Grandstand, then to Katigbak Road through Padre Burgos Street, Finance Road through Ayala Boulevard, Palanca Street, Quezon Boulevard, Arlegui, Fraternal, Vergara, Duque de Alba, Castillejos, Farnecio, Arlegui Street, Nepomuceno, Concepcion Aguila, Carcer, Hidalgo through Plaza del Carmen, Bilibid Viejo into Gil Puyat, JP de Guzman, Hidalgo, Quezon Boulevard, Palanca Street underneath Quezon Bridge, Villalobos through Plaza Miranda, before it ends in Quiapo Church.

The Department of Health (DOH) also raised Code White status in all hospitals in Metro Manila in preparation for the Traslacion of the Black Nazarene on Thursday.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said 14 health emergency response teams would be deployed in strategic areas along the route to provide emergency medical services to the millions of devotees expected to join the procession. 

But Duque called on devotees to wear comfortable clothes and protective footwear, wear hats and bring fans to combat the heat.  – With Sheila Crisostomo, Robertzon Ramirez