Surviving calamities, war and COVID: Jesus Nazareno through the years

The image of Jesus Nazareno and the tradition surrounding it have withstood calamities, wars, and even the COVID-19 pandemic, as the faith of millions of devotees remains steadfast.

According to Raffy Tima’s Thursday report on “24 Oras,” the long-standing tradition of Traslacion is far from the peaceful procession of the image of Jesus Nazarene around the Quiapo Church at the beginning of the 20th century.

There is no exact date when the number of devotees increased, but the devotion remained as Quiapo Church went through fire, earthquakes, and World War II.

Eugenio Jongco has been a Nazareno devotee since the 1950s. He shared that his father told him that the traditional procession continued even during the Japanese occupation, and even during the 70s

Jongco shared that many Nazareno devotees slept at Plaza Miranda after the Traslacion because it was past curfew time during Martial Law.

Despite the absence of Traslacion from 2021 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the devotion lived on as the number of participants doubled in 2024, with more than 6 million devotees.

More than 8 million devotees joined the Traslacion in 2025, the largest crowd estimate since 2016, based on GMA Integrated News Research monitoring.

“Lumaki lalo yan, milyon-milyon pa yung pumupunta dahil nagsimula na rin yung 24-hour coverage ng media sa pista ng kiyapo na dati lumalabas lang yan doon sa evening news,” said Xiao Chua, Filipino public historian.

(The number of devotees grew even bigger, especially after the media's 24-hour coverage of the Nazareno feast, which used to be shown only on the evening news.)

Even before the pandemic, millions braved the crowds to see Jesus Nazareno, including the 2012 procession, which was one of the most challenging due to tighter security and two broken wheels on the carriage.

“Yung hirap na dinanas nila noong 2012 at saka yung pressure, yung stress na nairaos nila, yun talaga yung paamang fulfilling for them,” Chua said.

(The hardships, pressure, and stress devotees endured in 2012 are what truly made it fulfilling for them.)

In 2017 and 2018, the procession stretched over 22 hours, far from the faster pace when the image of the Jesus Nazareno was carried around the Quiapo district, which only lasted two to five hours.

According to the Quiapo Church website, the original image of Jesus Nazareno was brought by Mexicans and arrived in Manila in the 1600s.

It was first housed in the San Juan Bautista Church in Bagumbayan before the Recoletos Church in Intramuros.

As devotion grew, a replica of the image was made in the 1700s, also from Mexico, and brought to Quiapo Church, where it remains to this day.

The original image in Intramuros, along with the Recollects’ church, was lost when it was destroyed during the Liberation of Manila in February 1945.

To celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2007, the Traslacion was done from the Quirino Grandstand to the Quiapo Church. —LDF, GMA Integrated News