Was it because of the religious devotion, or simply because of the cops swarming the streets of Manila?
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) noted zero criminal incident on Monday until dawn yesterday in Manila, especially at the span of the Black Na-zarene procession which lasted for 22 hours.
“The entire Traslacion was zero crime incident in Manila,” said Director Oscar Albayalde, NCRPO chief.
“I express my gratitude to my men and to all the people who helped us for that generally peaceful religious event,” he added.
Zero crime incidents in the streets of Manila, it was recalled, are only being experienced at the peak of the career of Filipino boxing icon and now Senator Manny Pacquiao.
Albayalde said the image of the Black Nazarene was inside the Quiapo Church at 3:42 a.m. yesterday, paving way for the termination of the procession.
Based on the police crowd estimate, a total of 2.5 million devotees flocked to Manila especially in Quiapo Church and the procession routes.
“We have more in the previous years,” said Chief Insp. Kimberly Molitas, NCRPO spokesperson when asked to compare of the crowd estimate before and last year.
She attributed it to the fact that two similar events occurred in the regions, one of them in Mindanao. This is the reason, she said, why some of the devotees who were supposed to go to Manila opted to stay. (Aaron Recuenco)
