Several activities will be held in the historic walled city of Intramuros for this year’s Holy Week.
The Department of Tourism (DoT) announced Friday that nine sites will be open to pilgrims and tourists for the conduct of the traditional “Visita Iglesia” on Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday (April 18-20).
The religious sites that will be open are the Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Parish Church, Fr. Willman Chapel at the Knights of Columbus Building, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Chapel, Mapua University Chapel, Lyceum of the Philippines University Chapel, Colegio de San Juan de Letran Chapel, St. Matthew’s Chapel at the Bureau of Internal Revenue Building, and Guadalupe Shrine at the Fort Santiago.
Stations of the Cross installations will also be displayed along the stretch of General Luna Street, from Beaterio Street to Muralla (side of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila) from Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday.
A “Penetencia,” the traditional reenactment of the suffering of Jesus Christ, will also be staged on Holy Thursday (April 18) around Plaza Roma and the Manila Cathedral at 7 p.m.
To facilitate traffic within Intramuros, General Luna Street will be closed to all vehicles from the night of Holy Wednesday until Good Friday. There will be designated areas for the public parking in the various locations.
Members of the Manila Police District, Philippine Navy-Naval Reserve Command (NAVRESCOM), and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will provide security and health assistance to the tourists and devotees.
In case of health emergencies, two ambulances of the PRC will be on stand-by in front of the Manila Cathedral at Plaza Roma and at the PRC Headquarters on General Luna Street.
Portalets will also be installed all over the city and near the churches for public use.
The tourism department urged the public to follow rules and be mindful of other pilgrims and tourists.
The DoT is encouraging the public to: follow queues and line-up properly; do not disturb devotees by taking photos with flash; observe silence especially when in houses of prayer; throw and segregate trash in the proper trash bins; avoid using disposable plastic water bottles by bringing reusable tumblers; and wear decent clothing.
In 2018, there were 900,000 local and foreign tourists who visited the Intramuros on Holy Week. (Analou De Vera)
