MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Millions
of Roman Catholic devotees on Tuesday finished parading a statue of Christ
through the Philippine capital after 22 hours with no major incidents. The
president had earlier warned that terrorists might target the raucous annual
procession.
Authorities, who had deployed a
massive police cordon, declared the event a success and lifted the security
alert in Manila.
The government did not have
specific intelligence on a terrorist plot. Still, about 15,000 policemen,
backed by hundreds of army troops, secured the three-mile (five-kilometer)
procession route for the charred wooden Black Nazarene statue from seaside
Rizal Park to a popular church in Manila's congested Quiapo district.
Air force helicopters stood by
and cellphone service was blocked in procession areas to prevent its use to
trigger bombs. Despite the president's warning, huge crowds of devotees wearing
maroon shirts surged near the statue, believed to have healing powers.
Devotees waving handkerchiefs
and towels let out shouts of "Viva!" as the statue was finally
brought inside the church at the end of the grueling procession.
The Philippine Red Cross said
more than 500 devotees were treated for minor injuries, exhaustion or
dehydration.
President Benigno Aquino III announced
at a hastily called news conference Sunday that several terrorists had been
reported in Manila with plans to disrupt the procession, but that the threat
was not high enough to cancel the event and that police would work to keep it
safe.
Aquino's warning sparked one of
the most elaborate security deployments for an event in the capital in recent
years.
Defense Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin said the threat, involving possible bombings by two groups of Muslim
militants from the country's volatile south, prompted police to raid several
suspected terrorist hideouts in the Manila area, but without any results.
There were suspicions that
attackers might come from two radical Muslim groups, including the
al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations
for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
"I agree with the
assessment of the Manila police district that it was a success, but a bit too
long," Chairman Francis Tolentino of the Metropolitan Manila Development
Authority said Tuesday.
The procession was delayed for
hours because the wheels of the carriage carrying the statue broke.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said
the government's warning may have helped kept the event peaceful.
The security alert in Manila
was lifted after the procession ended, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said.
Police said at least 3 million
mostly barefoot devotees took part in the event.
The wooden statue of Christ,
crowned with thorns and bearing a cross, is believed to have been brought from
Mexico to Manila in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it
caught fire, but the charred statue survived and was named the Black Nazarene.
Some believe the statue's
survival of fires and earthquakes through the centuries and intense bombings
during World War II is a testament to its powers.
The Philippines is Asia's
largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation.
JIM GOMEZ | AP
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Consulting, Investment and Management, focusing three main economic sectors: International PR; Healthcare & Wellness;and Tourism & Hospitality. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programs. Sign up with twitter to get news updates with @SaigonBusinessC. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment