Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event.
The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers.
Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight.
Photo: AFP
More than 800 people had sought medical attention along the cloudy but humid parade route by early afternoon.
One man, a local photojournalist, died of an apparent heart attack while covering the event, according to the Presidential Task Force on Media Security.
This year’s festival of Jesus the Nazarene comes on the heels of deadly typhoons, earthquakes and a high-level corruption scandal that has rocked the archipelago nation of 116 million people.
“For this year, my wish is for the [political] system in the Philippines to change and for the corrupt people to disappear from the face of the Earth,” said Manila resident Jose Borbon, a 23-year-old who drives a horse carriage for tourists. “Nothing is impossible if you pray to him.”
Scores of politicians and officials have been implicated in a scandal over “ghost” flood-control projects that purportedly cost taxpayers billions of dollars, but were either never built or shoddily constructed.
Bishop Rufino Sescon called on those involved to stand down during a homily before Friday’s procession began.
“In our country today, some people refuse to step down despite having done bad things or become deadweights, or made the poor suffer, even though the country is drowning in floods,” Sescon said. “Shame on you. Please step down for the people’s sake.”
The annual religious parade commemorates the arrival of the wooden statue of Christ from Mexico in the early 1600s.
Many believe the statue got its dark color when it survived a fire aboard the Spanish ship that carried it to the Philippines, leading to it being known colloquially as the “Black Nazarene.”
Crowd estimates for the procession and its final destination had topped 200,000 people by 1pm.
Gerry Asuncion, 62, a traffic officer in a Manila suburb, took two days off along with many of his coworkers to be at the parade.
“We were poor once, but I have achieved all my dreams — a car, a good family, a house... My children are healthy and we never want for anything. Each Friday, I go to Quiapo church to pray and give thanks,” he said.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington was “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran killed protesters, prompting Tehran to warn that intervention would destabilize the region. Protesters and security forces on Thursday clashed in several Iranian cities, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the unrest escalated. Shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday last week went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, actions that have since spread into a protest movement that has swept into other parts of the country. If Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS