Hundreds of thousands of people prayed for relief from natural disasters Saturday Jan 9 in a barefoot religious procession across the capital of the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines.
The annual festival centres on a black icon of a cross-bearing Jesus Christ, which many Filipinos believe can perform miracles to cure the sick, drive away bad luck and bring prosperity.
However the day turned into tragedy for two participants.
A 42 year-old man was crushed to death by the crowd, staff at state-run Manila hospital told AFP, while a 47 year-old man died of a heart attack while waiting for the procession to pass, Manila police commander Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay said.
 |
| A devotee shouts as he holds the rope that pulls the carriage of the Black Nazarene during a procession in Manila January 9, 2010. Hundreds of thousands of barefoot devotees thronged the streets of Manila on Saturday as a centuries old black statue of Jesus Christ, believed to have healing powers, was paraded through the old city. The wooden, life-sized Black Nazarene, carved in Mexico and brought to the Philippines in the early 17th century, is taken out of the Quiapo Church on Jan. 9 each year for the largest parade in the predominately Roman Catholic country. (Reuters) |
"They look like giant waves," Senior Inspector Oscar Holguera, head of Manila's mobile police division, said of the sea of humanity swarming around the carriage being pulled by bare-foot devotees holding lengths of stout rope.
The devotees wore scarlet shirts and hurled white handkerchiefs and towels at an ebony-hued wooden statue of the "Black Nazarene", with which volunteers touched the figure's cheeks before throwing back the cloths to the crowd.
Magtibay told local radio the parade was expected to reach its final destination, the Quiapo church in central Manila, early evening.
"There are a lot more participants today than last year," Holguera told AFP, estimating the size of the crowd at several hundred thousand people.
"Many people are turning to religion after a year of disasters," he added.
Tropical storms, floods, landslides, and maritime disasters killed nearly 2,000 people across the Philippines in 2009, a year in which an election-linked massacre claimed 57 lives and a volcano also erupted.
 |
| The statue of the Black Nazarene makes its way through devotees during a religious procession in Manila January 9, 2010. Hundreds of thousands of devotees thronged Manila to snatch a glimpse or try to touch the centuries old black statue of Jesus Christ at the annual parade. The wooden Black Nazarene, carved in Mexico and brought to the Philippines capital in the early 17th century, is cherished by Catholics who believe it performs miracles. (Reuters) |
More than 80 percent of Filipinos are Catholic and Holguera estimated that at least two million people in this city of more than 10 million had joined or watched the procession.
The life-sized sculpture of Jesus bearing a cross is said to have been carved in Mexico and brought to the Philippines by Augustinian missionaries in the early 17th century during Spain's galleon trade.
"Filipinos identify with the image because of the trials they undergo year after year," said a Manila parish priest, Aris Sison.
"I'm praying for good health and good luck," said 58-year-old Ricardo Palacio, a Manila porter who said his wife left him and their four children several years ago.
"He cured my illness and enabled me to walk again," said 78-year-old grandmother Maria Medalla, who told AFP she left her home near the erupting Mayon volcano southeast of Manila last week so she could join this year's procession.
The local branch of the Red Cross said it had treated 198 participants by mid-afternoon, mostly for symptoms of high blood pressure and one with a head injury.
The city government said it deployed more than a thousand policemen to maintain order and redirect traffic.
|
