A lot of things could have gone wrong, but in the end only the weather refused to cooperate during the five-day visit of Pope Francis. Tropical Storm Amang forced the pontiff to shorten what, in his own words, was the principal reason for his Philippine visit: to comfort the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City and neighboring Palo in Leyte. Without the continuous rain and cold wind brought by the off-season storm in Manila, the crowd that attended his mass in Rizal Park would also have been even larger.
The bad weather, however, also tested the devotion of millions of Filipinos, who not only attended the rain-soaked events but did it with an impressive discipline that marked the nation’s reception for the popular pontiff. There was no shoving even among squealing crowds. As urged by organizers, people did not open umbrellas, even if it meant shivering in plastic raincoats that failed to protect their faces and feet from the rain.
Respecting the requests of the Holy See, streamers bearing the image of Pope Francis were taken down and replaced with the Vatican flag and logo of the event. Politicians stayed away, or kept a profile so low no one noticed their presence. The concrete barriers topped with metal railings also helped in crowd management, preventing the pontiff and the faithful from getting crushed.
The visit provides valuable pointers on how to prepare for another major event that the country is hosting later this year. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit, to be held in Manila in November, poses different challenges from the papal visit, but measures implemented for the pope can be applied, with improvements.
Traffic management in particular needs tweaking to ensure the least inconvenience to the public. If closing certain roads is unavoidable, they must be reopened ASAP. Traffic is awful enough in Metro Manila even on regular days.
The government must also review carefully any plan to declare more special holidays for APEC. Businessmen have already been affected by the holidays for the papal visit. November is one of the busiest times for the ports, and shipment processing must continue at the Port of Manila throughout the summit. A papal visit is a rare, special event. But for other cases, business cannot stop every time the country hosts visiting dignitaries.