EDITORIAL - Safe devotion

After a pause of three years due to the COVID pandemic, the Black Nazarene procession resumes today. The Philippine National Police has deployed thousands of its personnel along the route of the annual Traslacion. President Marcos declared Jan. 9 a holiday in the city of Manila, where the local government will be handing out free face masks to devotees.

The masks are being distributed amid an increase in recent weeks of COVID cases and influenza-like illnesses or ILI particularly in Metro Manila. Devotees can manifest their faith and show concern for others by staying out of the procession if they have symptoms of illness. Four years of the killer pandemic have made everyone aware of these symptoms, and the minimum health protocols to avoid infecting others.

Traslacion participants will include people belonging to the sectors most vulnerable to COVID and ILI: the elderly, the immunocompromised and those with comorbidities. Among the victims of COVID were members of the clergy. Government health personnel are deployed along the traslacion route to provide emergency assistance, but preventing infection is equally important. Those who feel sick can still join the procession virtually, by watching the live coverage on television and streaming services.

Health officials are urging participants to continue practicing minimum health protocols amid the expected heavy crowding during the procession as well as the touching of the Black Nazarene image. Physical distancing is impossible, but respiratory and hand hygiene can still be practiced. Plans to resume the Traslacion last year were scrapped as the Omicron subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 raged across the planet including the Philippines. Today newer strains of Omicron are still around, capable of causing serious illness and even death to the vulnerable.

Environment watchdogs are urging participants to also show concern for the environment and avoid littering. Religious devotion must be expressed through civic responsibility, starting with picking up after oneself. Traslacion participants can also do their share in keeping the procession safe from violent disruptions. Suspicious packages abandoned along the procession route must be reported immediately to authorities.

While law enforcement agencies have reported no security threats, the country has had its share of terrorist attacks, and the PNP cannot let its guard down during the Traslacion. The Office for Transportation Security has deployed security screening officers along with an x-ray machine at the Quiapo Church.

After three long years without the largest religious procession in the country, Nazarene believers are expected to manifest “revenge devotion” today, and participate in even more massive droves in the Traslacion. The devotion must be kept as safe as possible, both in terms of security and health.