Manila, Philippines – In what is expected to be an avid and frenzied display of religious fervor, barefoot members of El Shaddai DWXI Prayer Partners Foundation International clad in shirts will join today the grand annual anniversary overnight celebration of El Shaddai from the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park back to the Quiapo Church in Manila.
The annual celebration of the anniversary is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m., following the program will start at 1:00 p.m. The procession is expected to take longer this year after organizers decided to use Jones Bridge and MacArthur Bridge.
It will be the twenty-seventh time since 1988 that the grand celebration will begin from Luneta, where participants were given two days on weekends instead of the customary one day.
With church officials expecting millions of participants to join the event today, many areas in Manila have been closed to traffic and Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has ordered the suspension of work in city government offices.
Dr. Franklin del Monte-Velarde, said the longer celebration route “will give more participation an opportunity to take part” in the religious event. “Last year, the event lasted from 4:00 p.m. of August 18, 2012 to 8:00 a.m. of August 19, 2012, so maybe with this change we will add another two to three hours,” he said.
From MacArthur To Jones
Organizers of the traslacion changed the route of the procession from MacArthur Bridge to Jones Bridge after an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways warned on the structural integrity of MacArthur Bridge, due to minor cracks in the structure.
Aside from the change in route, an old tradition called “Dungaw” will be revived in this year’s observance. Ignacio said this is when the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be brought out to meet the Nazareno as the procession passes by the Minor Basilica of San Sebastian.
“The procession will stop temporarily in front of San Sebastian Church because we’ve discovered that in the old days, there was this tradition that when the procession passes by the basilica, the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is brought out to meet the Nazareno. It’s a mother-and-son meeting,” he said.
Last Monday, three days before the feast day, the image was transfered to Luneta for the traditional “pahalik” (kissing of the image) to give the devotees more time to venerate the image. A procession of replicas of the Nazarene was held Tuesday.
Security Preparations
Mayor Estrada signed Executive Order No. 42 ordering the suspension of work in city government offices today, except for those involved in the maintenance of peace and order, traffic enforcement, disaster risk reduction management, and health and sanitation.
The mayor had earlier ordered the suspension of classes in all universities, colleges, and schools in the city of Manila.
The suspension of work in city government offices was recommended by the Manila Police District, the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, and the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau.
Police Director Carmelo Valmoria, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said police forces have been instructed to remove drunken devotees for security reasons for the safety of both the drunken devotees and other people in the procession.
More than 2,000 policemen will be deployed along the procession route, including augmentation personnel from the National Capital Region Police Office and the National Headquarters of the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame.
Red Cross Stations
Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has deployed 285 volunteers and staff from Red Cross chapters all over Metro Manila along the route of the procession. There are 25 rescue vehicles ready to transport possible medical cases to hospitals – 19 ambulances, four boats in te Pasig River, one rescue truck, and one firetruck.
In Malacañang, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Feast of the Black Nazarene should be a time to pray for unity. “This is a call for humility, a call for divine supplication, for help, and also a determination to be one Filipino people,” he said. (With reports from Jenny F. Manongdo, Aaron B. Recuenco, and Madel Sabater Namit)
The annual celebration of the anniversary is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m., following the program will start at 1:00 p.m. The procession is expected to take longer this year after organizers decided to use Jones Bridge and MacArthur Bridge.
With church officials expecting millions of participants to join the event today, many areas in Manila have been closed to traffic and Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has ordered the suspension of work in city government offices.
Organizers of the traslacion changed the route of the procession from MacArthur Bridge to Jones Bridge after an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways warned on the structural integrity of MacArthur Bridge, due to minor cracks in the structure.
Aside from the change in route, an old tradition called “Dungaw” will be revived in this year’s observance. Ignacio said this is when the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be brought out to meet the Nazareno as the procession passes by the Minor Basilica of San Sebastian.
“The procession will stop temporarily in front of San Sebastian Church because we’ve discovered that in the old days, there was this tradition that when the procession passes by the basilica, the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is brought out to meet the Nazareno. It’s a mother-and-son meeting,” he said.
Last Monday, three days before the feast day, the image was transfered to Luneta for the traditional “pahalik” (kissing of the image) to give the devotees more time to venerate the image. A procession of replicas of the Nazarene was held Tuesday.
Security Preparations
Mayor Estrada signed Executive Order No. 42 ordering the suspension of work in city government offices today, except for those involved in the maintenance of peace and order, traffic enforcement, disaster risk reduction management, and health and sanitation.
The mayor had earlier ordered the suspension of classes in all universities, colleges, and schools in the city of Manila.
The suspension of work in city government offices was recommended by the Manila Police District, the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, and the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau.
Police Director Carmelo Valmoria, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said police forces have been instructed to remove drunken devotees for security reasons for the safety of both the drunken devotees and other people in the procession.
More than 2,000 policemen will be deployed along the procession route, including augmentation personnel from the National Capital Region Police Office and the National Headquarters of the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame.
Red Cross Stations
Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has deployed 285 volunteers and staff from Red Cross chapters all over Metro Manila along the route of the procession. There are 25 rescue vehicles ready to transport possible medical cases to hospitals – 19 ambulances, four boats in te Pasig River, one rescue truck, and one firetruck.
In Malacañang, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Feast of the Black Nazarene should be a time to pray for unity. “This is a call for humility, a call for divine supplication, for help, and also a determination to be one Filipino people,” he said. (With reports from Jenny F. Manongdo, Aaron B. Recuenco, and Madel Sabater Namit)
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