Church, local authorities coordinate preparations for Traslacion 2020

Preparations by Quiapo Church authorities, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) officials, and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) commanders were in full swing for the Traslacion of the Black Nazarene which would be held next Thursday-January 9.

According to a GMA News TV Live report, security features along the route of the "andas" or the carroza would be present this year to ensure an orderly procession.

Among the security features were the closure of roads using 20-footer container vans at the corners of Roxas Boulevard and Katigbak Drive, Taft Avenue and Padre Burgos Avenue, Padre Burgos Avenue and Finance Road, and General Solano Street and Nepumuceno Street.

Officials had also agreed to the stringing of barbed wire along the high structures of the Ayala Bridge - an action recommended by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

NCRPO acting director Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas said posters would also be placed to remind devotes not to climb over the Ayala Bridge.

Two police lines would also secure the andas this year.

For the first time, estandartes or devotees' flags would be blessed at the Quiapo Church this Saturday evening. A mass would precede the blessing. — Jamil Santos/DVM, GMA News