Traslacion festivities to resume in Davao

Published December 22, 2022, 10:25 AM

by Christina Hermoso

Devotees of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno (Black Nazarene) in Davao City have announced the resumption of all activities related to the feast of the Traslacion of the revered image on Jan. 9.

Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church)

“As the situation here in our city has slowly returned to pre-pandemic levels, we are announcing that the face-to-face activities including the foot procession will return in this year’s Traslacion festivities,” the Davao Nazareno said over Radio Veritas. 

Organizers said devotees are looking forward to the resumption of activities in honor of the Black Nazarene which had been canceled for the last two years.

The Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) in Manila earlier called on devotees to celebrate the feast of the Traslacion on January 9 in their respective parishes to help decongest the crowd in Quiapo.

The Quiapo Church has canceled the annual Traslacion procession in view of the ongoing pandemic and has instead encouraged devotees to go to the Quirino Grandstand for the holy mass and the “pagpupugay” in lieu of the traditional “pahalik.”

The official replica of the Black Nazarene will be enshrined at the Our Lady of Peñafrancia GKK Chapel in Buhanginan Davao City which is under the San Alfonso Maria de Liguori Parish, the Davao Nazareno said.

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“The devotees of the Black Nazarene here in the Archdiocese of Davao are hoping that with the smooth return of all face-to-face activities we will be able to spread the love and mercy of the Risen Lord, the Nazareno, to all Catholic faithful in our city as they are facing new challenges brought by complex geopolitical and economic situations,” the group stressed.

21-hour Traslacion 2019 ends with 'no untoward incidents'

MANILA, Philippines — The carriage carrying the image of the Black Nazarene reached the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila on Thursday after a 21-hour long procession that started at the Quirino Grandstand early Wednesday.

The procession started at a little past 5 a.m. on Wednesday and ended past 2 a.m. on Thursday, The STAR reports.

According to the Quiapo Church, as many as five million devotees were expected to participate in the traditional procession, which passes through major roads in the City of Manila.

The Philippine Red Cross said Thursday morning that it had given medical assistance to 1,613 patients, 747 of whom had their blood pressure monitored. Another 603 people were listed as being attended to for "minor cases" or "breathing difficulty, fainting, puncture, abrasion, bruises, laceration, toothache, nosebleed, sprain, hypoglycemia, swelling, muscle spasm, body weakness and dizziness." 

The National Capital Region Police Office, which handled security for the yearly event, said it had recorded no casualties or major untoward incidents. 

Director Guillermo Eleazar, NCRPO chief, said that around 7,200 police officers had been depoloyed to secure the route of the procession and to ensure order during the event. Police were at their posts a day before the procession and stayed on duty until the end.

"I would like to commend our police as well as the media who were there with us," he said.

"Based on our assessment, its better now than before, with the result of peace and order situation and with the result of injuries and casualties, this year it was more orderly compared to last time but we we want to improve on it more for Traslacion 2020," Eleazar also said in English and Filipino in a Facebook post.