Black Nazarene image 'dressed up' for procession

Even as thousands of devotees continued to troop to the Quiapo Church, the image of the Black Nazarene was "dressed up" for its procession to the Luneta Monday. Radio station dzBB reported Monday morning that church workers and some devotees put on a new set of garments for the image. The statue had reportedly been washed and sprayed with scents. It said the garments for the image that is widely believed to have miraculous powers, were made of fine, imported materials, but did not say how much the new garments cost. The image was to be taken out of the Quiapo Church at noon Monday and brought to the Quirino Grandstand for an overnight vigil before it is returned to Quiapo at noon Tuesday. As this developed, thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene trooped again to the Quiapo Church to attend hourly Masses that started at 4 a.m. Monday. The last Mass at the Quiapo Church will be held at 11 a.m. before the image of the Black Nazarene is pulled out of the church en route to the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta. Last Sunday, organizers said at least 300 Manila policemen will be deployed to the Luneta grandstand where the image of the Black Nazarene will be brought for an overnight vigil Monday. The police have been instructed to do physical searches on devotees suspected of being drunk, or planning to make a drinking session out of the overnight vigil. For its part, Manila police said there is no intelligence report of a terrorist plot to disrupt the two-day Black Nazarene feast on Monday and Tuesday in Manila. But acting Manila Police District acting chief Sr. Supt. Danilo Abarzosa said he has taken security precautions such as deploying elite teams and plainclothes personnel at the sites. "Walang terrorist threat pero yan ay aming pinaghandaan (We have not received any terror threat but we have prepared for it). We deployed four Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams and four ambulances, and 150 'sekreta' plainclothes policemen to the Luneta Grandstand," Abarzosa said in an interview on dzXL radio. He said the police expect some 50,000 to attend the festivities at the grandstand this year, adding crowds in past years had numbered "20,000 to 30,000" in Quiapo at any one time. Official estimates in prior years had placed the number of devotees at more than 100,000. Abarzosa advised motorists to avoid Taft Avenue and P. Burgos starting 4 p.m. Monday as the procession heads towards the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta. He said City Hall has deployed 100 traffic personnel to direct motorists to alternate routes. - GMANews.TV