Millions of Filipinos Gather for 'Nazerene' Feast Amid Terrorist Threats (VIDEO)
Roman Catholics in the Philippines gathered Monday by the millions in the capital, Manila, to celebrate the feast of the Black Nazarene, despite warnings by the president of an imminent terrorist attack.
"Over the past few months, we have been appraised of intentions to create disruption in the national capital region, during the feast of the Black Nazarene," President Benigno Aquino said in a news conference Sunday, Reuters reported.
He addressed the people directly: "Lately, we have been getting some information that leads us to believe there is a heightened risk...the possibility prompts us to warn you of the risk in attending the procession."
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About 15,000 police officers and hundreds of army troops kept watch over the three-mile route on Monday as the Black Nazarene, a charred wooden statue of Jesus carrying the cross which believers claim has healing powers, made its way from seaside Rizal Park to a popular church in Manila's Quiapo district, the The Associated Press reported. It is purported that the statue was brought from Mexico by Spanish missionaries in 1606, but the ship that was carrying it caught fire, which gave the statue its charred look.
More than 600 people were reportedly injured as devotees tried to get closer to the statue following Mass, ABS-CBN shared. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) tended to around 500 citizens who suffered minor injuries in a mini-stampede, while the Philippine Red Cross treated another 157 people.
Christians Worship in Manila Despite Terrorist ThreatsPolice raided a number of suspected terrorist hideouts near the capital, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said. Gazmin also defended president Aquino's decision to make a public announcement about the threats, saying that it was better to be described as overreacting than to be sorry afterward.
Along with the police and army force, there were also three helicopters on standby, bomb-sniffing dogs, crowd-control squads, teams of explosive experts, and a 500-strong rapid reaction force. Cellphone service was also disrupted in attempts to prevent any potential use of trigger bombs.
Fears concerned a possible attack by Muslim extremist groups such as Abu Sayyaf, an organization on a U.S. terrorist watch list that has been accused of bombings, beheadings and kidnappings, and is linked to al-Qaida.
The mass of worshipers, led by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle at Rizal Park, was projected to grow to 9 million people during the day. Barefoot devotees prayed for those that died in the recent floods, which killed more than a 1,000 people and left thousands more homeless, and followed a carriage that paraded the Black Nazarene statue. The feast is expected to last well into the night on Monday.
