The city of Manila is in the thick of preparations for one of the biggest Catholic events in the Philippines: the Feast of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo which will occur on Jan. 9, Wednesday.
In anticipation of the big event, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada yesterday signed Executive Order No. 1 series of 2019 which suspended classes in all levels in both public and private schools all over the city during the feast day, reported Rappler.
At the same time, Estrada also suspended work in all national and local government offices.
However, police officers, traffic enforcers, and disaster and risk reduction management personnel are required to work on that day, reported The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Private companies will be left to decide if they should work on the feast day.
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Guillermo Eleazar said that there will be no phone signal in the route of the Nazarene’s procession and that the area has been declared as a no-fly zone, reported CNN Philippines.
The PNP has told the public not to bring colored canisters, water bottles, and sharp objects. Pregnant women and children are discouraged from participating.
7,000 policemen will be deployed in the area which is expected to draw at least 5 million people, according to the Philippine Star.
Authorities are expecting that this year’s procession will be faster, unlike the one in 2018 which lasted 22 hours.
The Nazarene’s procession is also called the Traslación. It serves as a celebration of the religious icon’s arrival in the church of Quiapo on Jan. 9, 1787 after it was kept in different Manila churches.
During Traslación, a replica of the Nazarene will be placed on top of a carriage called a carroza and will then be pulled across an almost six-kilometer route by barefoot devotees dressed in maroon shirts, the same shade of the icon’s robes.
Other devotees who believe the statue grants miracles line along the path of the route, with many scrambling through the crowd to touch the Nazarene.
The chaos that ensues often results in injury and even death — in 2015, two devotees died during the event.
Keeping fingers crossed that there will be no casualties this year.
