Nazarene march: 227 hurt

It was one of the largest crowds ever to attend the procession for the Black Nazarene, and also one of the most unruly.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and 1,500 Manila policemen could not control a group of devotees that disrupted the Mass at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila’s Rizal Park yesterday as the crowd engaged in a mad scramble for the rope used to pull the carriage that bore the image of the Black Nazarene.

Police estimated the crowd that went to the park at about a million. During the day-long procession to the Quiapo Church, at least 227 people suffered afflictions including exhaustion, dehydration and hypertension in the crush of the crowd.

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) treated 227 devotees, including a six month-pregnant woman, who were rushed to its two emergency units set up in Sta. Cruz and Quiapo.

Rosales, who was the main celebrant of the 402nd anniversary of the Feast of the Black Nazarene, was in the middle of his homily when he was forced to pause for about 20 minutes as the devotees continued to fight their way through the phalanx of uniformed policemen to get close to the religious image.

Police said the unruly devotees tried to outrun each other and climbed over police barricades and barriers to take the coveted position beside the statue of Jesus Christ the Nazarene. The devotees grabbed the rope used to pull the carriage bearing the image for the procession from the Quirino Grandstand to the Quiapo Church or the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene.

Rosales appealed three times to the crowd to settle down so they could resume the Mass, but the devotees ignored the Cardinal.

Order was briefly restored when the people sang “Our Father” and when communion started.

Policemen set up iron railings to prevent the crowd from occupying Katigbak Road in front of the Quirino Grandstand, but the unruly devotees were persistent.

They began to repeatedly shout “Viva” and waved their white and maroon handkerchiefs.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil was forced to go down the stage and help the policemen restore order, followed by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim who finally allowed the crowd to occupy Katigbak Road near the stage of Quirino Grandstand where the Mass was held.

Lim gave in to the crowd and gave the signal to allow the devotees to occupy the road.

“They (devotees) wanted to start the procession already and I told them that we should let the Cardinal finish the Mass. But we cannot blame the people because for them, this is the symbol of their love of the Nazareno,” Lim said.

Lim appealed to the devotees to keep the celebration of the Black Nazarene peaceful and orderly.

But the mayor’s plea was ignored and some devotees occupied the stage to receive communion while some took the flowers from nearby plant boxes.

Cardinal irked by the some devotees

Rosales was apparently irked by the rowdy behavior of some devotees.

“Actually, these are the fanatics. That’s exactly the devotion we want to purify. Sometimes, the strong emotion of people takes over reason. The emotions take over the holiness of the event, the emotions take over the devotion. The emotions, the fanaticism, they should not be there and that is exactly what we are trying to tell the people. We still have a long way to go,” Rosales said.

The Manila Archbishop said: “There are many things to purify; even in religion, there is excess. The small group that fanatically climbed to get to the Lord, that is an example of what should not be. That part has to be purified.”

The faithful would be taught that they could also manifest their true devotion to the Black Nazarene through constructive “spiritual devotion,” meaning they would have to live the values that Jesus Christ lived by, such as humility, compassion, simplicity of life, the smallness of one’s desire, poverty, the willingness to sacrifice in order to love, he said.

“Let them express their own devotion in a quiet and in a very humane way with charity for others without disturbing the others… It’s not as bad as you think… that excess can be purified. An over-devotion could be given the right direction and that is exactly what I want the Philippines to have, not only in matters of politics, economy but also in daily Christian living,” the Cardinal said.

Quiapo Church rector Fr. Clemente Ignacio agreed with the observations of the Cardinal. Witnessing the crowd’s behavior, he said that they would make an evaluation after the event.

“We still have a lot of work to do and we have to pray for it. There are some customs that need to be studied. It is a good thing that these things came up now so that we could still make reforms,” said Ignacio.

He said that their priests in Quiapo Church have not been remiss in their duty, in fact they have constantly reminded the people that while the image of the Black Nazarene is important, what is more important is the relationship with God, a person’s faith in Him. 

In handling the undisciplined devotees, “I just instructed our marshals that if they would encounter any difficulties in handling the people, they should keep things peaceful and not to confront the group who right now has a high adrenaline level,” said Ignacio.

At first, he said they were even planning on changing the route. But Cardinal Rosales decided that since their goal is to purify the devotion of the people, they decided to stick to the original route.

The rector explained that one of the reasons why they decided to hold the Mass at the Quirino Grandstand was to promote a deeper devotion for the Black Nazarene since the people were encouraged to attend an overnight vigil. The other reason was that they looked for a place that could accommodate one million people.

Among those present in the 7:30 a.m. Mass was Vice President De Castro.

De Castro said he would pray to the Black Nazarene to help the country overcome the global economic recession that is expected to hit the Philippines this year, but he refused to divulge his personal wishes to the media. 

He recalled that he started joining the procession when he was still a college student at the University of the East.

“As long as I have the strength I will continue,” he said.

Devotees divert route of procession

The procession started at around 9 a.m. from the Quirino Grandstand and headed for Quiapo Church.

Additional policemen from the NCRPO were deployed to Quiapo after another group of unruly devotees diverted the carriage of the Black Nazarene from the planned route to a shorter route to the Quiapo Church.

Officials said devotees pulling the rope of the carriage diverted the Black Nazarene to Carlos Palanca St. after passing MacArthur Bridge. The planned route of the procession was through Rizal Avenue, C.M. Recto, Legarda, Arlegui, Quezon Boulevard, Palanca St., Villalobos St., and back to Quiapo Church.

Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales, Manila Police District director, said the group leading the procession was already near the corner of Recto Ave. and Rizal Ave. when another group near the carriage started shouting: “Quiapo, Quiapo” and they turned the carriage to Carriedo St. towards Palanca St. near the church.

The splinter group later carried vehicles blocking Palanca St. and even commandeered a fire truck that was used as a barricade to block the crowd.

Rosales said the devotees had earlier asked to maintain the traditional route but the organizers made a new procession plan.

He said some policemen were armed with stun guns to control troublemakers, but did not use the weapons to avoid hurting people.

Rosales ordered a redeployment of the police to the route chosen by the devotees.

The police reported that as of 5 p.m. some 60 people suffered injuries, most of them complained of dizziness, bruises and foot injuries.

First aid was given to the devotees who suffered injuries or fell ill during the procession.

PNRC chairman and Sen. Richard Gordon said the agency’s Emergency Response Unit had set up stations at Plaza Sta. Cruz and in front of 7-Eleven Convenience Store near Quiapo Church.

Police also arrested a man who was wearing a maroon shirt of a devotee and had allegedly stolen four cellular telephones.

Six suspected snatchers, including four women, were also nabbed during the procession.  - With Nestor Etolle, Sheila Crisostomo, Sandy Araneta, Pia Lee-Brago