THOUSANDS of devotees braved the cold morning weather and bomb threats from Islamic militant extremists as they join the traslacion of the procession of the Black Nazarene today.
Although fewer in numbers compared to the past years, the devotees cheered “Viva Nazareno” as a gesture of veneration to the life-size statue of a dark-skinned Jesus Christ Christ carrying the cross as it was brought to Jesus Nazareno parish church in Barangay Lapasan, its home.
Colonel Evan Viñas, spokesperson of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office said only 18,000 devotees joined the traslacion or procession from St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral to the Nazareno parish church.
“The crowd is smaller this year compared to last year’s traslacion which drew more than 110,000 people,” Viñas said.
He said one major reason for the smaller attendance this year is the non-declaration of a special non-working day on Tuesday by the local government of Cagayan de Oro.
Viñas said had the local government of Cagayan de Oro declared Tuesday a special public holiday, it would have freed thousands of employees from work and they would have joined the “traslacion.”
Last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., declared January 9 as a special non-working day for Manila for its Black Nazarene celebration but not Cagayan de Oro.
Police expected 150,000 devotees to attend the “traslacion and have set up an elaborate security plan fielding 1,000 policemen and soldiers to secure the procession.
The security plan even included a bomb drill last Sunday and this morning, all mobile communications were jammed all over Cagayan de Oro for at least four hours.
“I am not scared of these bomb threats. My devotion to the Black Nazarene will protect me,” 51-year-old Luz Torralba who hails from Panglao, Bohol said.
Torralba said she had been a devotee since 2009 when the “traslacion” started in Cagayan de Oro and always come here, carrying her small Black Nazarene figurine, ever since.
She said next year she will come back again to join the “traslacion.”
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