MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Police District deployed a total of 1,255 uniformed personnel to serve as area security around the vicinity of Quiapo Church the day before the procession of the Black Nazarene on Good Friday, the police district disclosed Friday afternoon.
The over 1000 cops were instructed to secure the whole stretch of the procession route and enforce minimum public health standards among the devotees and churchgoers of the traditional Visita Iglesia.
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Police presence is "continuously being intensified within the four corners of Metro Manila for this Holy Week," Police Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco, MPD District Director said in a statement.
Before the deployment, a briefing was conducted to guarantee the smooth flow of the activity, and a contingency plan was also prepared for any eventualities that might occur.
During the actual procession at exactly midnight, the event initially went smoothly until the crowd became unruly "after several minutes."
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This eventually forced the ground commander and the church leaders to immediately return back the image to the Church to ensure maximum security of the estimated 70,000 devotees gathered around the Plaza Miranda, Quezon Blvd. Villalobos and Palanca.
After the crowd management operation, normal queuing of the people attending the Visits Iglesias resumed while deployed personnel remained for security monitoring.
The annual Catholic tradition was suspended for two years because of the pandemic, but Church rites have picked up in recent months amid the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases.
Still, according to Quiapo Church parochial vicar Fr. Douglas Badong, devotees are not allowed to clamber onto the Black Nazarene image during the procession. — with a report from The STAR