Lessons from past papal visits, Wowowee stampede to be applied during Pope’s PHL trip

The government is looking at past events that drew a huge number of Filipinos – including previous papal visits and even the “Wowowee” stampede in 2006 – to come up with the best way to manage the crowd expected during Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to the Philippines.

 

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said President Benigno Aquino III met on Thursday morning with local Roman Catholic Church leaders on the Pope’s security and crowd management during the papal visit from January 15 to 19.

 

“Lalo pang magiging masinsin ang koordinasyon ng pamahalaan at simbahan para sa matagumpay na state and apostolic visit of Pope Francis,” Coloma told reporters at a press briefing.

 

The Palace official said Aquino and the Church officials, led by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, went over the itinerary of the papal visit to ensure that Pope Francis has sufficient security.

 

Coloma further said Aquino and the Church leaders reviewed “relevant antecedents” to the Pope Francis’ Philippine trip, such as three previous papal visits, the annual Black Nazarene procession and even the stampede at the PhilSports Stadium almost nine years ago, which killed 73 people.

 

The communications secretary said security officials want to prevent “crowd surge,” especially during the Pope’s Mass at Rizal Park on January 18.

 

“Tinalakay na lahat ‘yung mga important concern that need to be considered whenever there is a big crowd. At dahil mayroon naman tayong kongkretong karanasan na papal visit 20 years ago, ‘yung annual na Black Nazarene procession, ‘yung naging unfortunate na kaganapan sa Ultra,” Coloma said.

 

“’Yung mga ganoong kahalintulad na karanasan, nagkaroon naman ng appreciation doon sa mga panganib na dapat laktawan,” he added.

Some 17,000 soldiers and 20,000 police officers will protect Pope Francis during his five-day state and apostolic visit.

 

Thousands of Filipinos are expected to troop to Metro Manila to participate in Pope Francis’ activities in the Philippines starting Friday next week. A three-day holiday has been declared in the National Capital Region due to the papal visit. 

 

The Philippines is the largest Roman Catholic nation in Asia. More than 80 percent of the over 100 million Filipinos are Roman Catholics. — RSJ, GMA News