Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 11
WORLD NEWS A11
Wednesday 10 January 2018
Huge Philippine procession secured tightly amid terror fears
By JIM GOMEZ Security officials said they Filipino Roman Catholic devotees jostle to get closer and kiss the image of the Black Nazarene
Associated Press were also concerned with
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — possible stampedes in a in a raucous procession to celebrate its feast day Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, in Manila, Philippines. A
A massive crowd of mostly dawn-to-midnight event
barefoot Filipino Catholics that national police chief massive crowd of mostly barefoot Filipino Catholics joined the annual procession of a centuries-
joined a raucous proces- Ronald dela Rosa said drew
sion of a centuries-old life- about 2.6 million devotees. old statue of Jesus Christ under tight security.
size statue of Jesus Christ It’s unclear how the police
under extra-tight security came up with the crowd (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
Tuesday after the Philip- estimate given that people
pines came under a disas- joined and left the proces- ey can’t cure diseases, the ists and were “absolutely got to be moved by this.”
trous militant attack last sion constantly.
year. Although the Philip- Mobs of devotees in ma- only other option is prayers. moved” by the massive but Crowned with thorns and
pine police and military roon shirts dangerously
said they have not moni- squeezed their way into Ours have been heard and peaceful procession and bearing a cross, the Naza-
tored any specific threat, the tight pack of humanity
they deployed more than around a carriage carrying we’re here to thank the display of religious faith rene statue is believed to
6,000 personnel, including the Jesus statue.
snipers and bomb squads They threw small towels at Nazarene.” by the devotees, many of have been brought from
backed by a surveillance volunteers on the carriage,
helicopter and drones, to which was being pulled Another devotee, Jeffrey them poor. Mexico to Manila on a gal-
secure the annual proces- by ropes, to wipe parts of
sion of the wooden Black the cross and the statue in Nolasco, said he joined the “We watched them as they leon in 1606 by Spanish mis-
Nazarene along Manila’s the belief that the Naza-
streets. By nightfall, nearly rene’s powers would cure procession for the fifth year threw towels on the stat- sionaries. The ship that car-
1,000 devotees had been ailments and foster good
treated by Red Cross vol- health and fortune. in a row to pray that his four ue and rubbed it on their ried it caught fire, but the
unteers, mostly for minor Ronald Malaguinio, a
injuries and ailments and 38-year-old worker, car- children will finish school, his bodies,” Coffin said as the charred statue survived.
exhaustion. ried a small replica of the
Authorities imposed a gun Nazarene on a steel plat- impoverished family could procession inched its way Some believe the statue’s
ban, cellphone signals form bedecked with yel-
were jammed sporadically low and white flowers for eat three times a day and nearby. endurance, from fires and
in the vicinity of the proces- several kilometers (miles)
sion and a team of bomb from his home in Manila’s he could overcome a bad “If the people in power ap- earthquakes through the
experts walked sniffer dogs Tondo slum district to join
along the route ahead of the procession and pray habit. Jim Coffin, an an- preciate how bad off the centuries and intense
the crowd. for a son recovering from
Concrete barriers blocked a heart ailment. “If the thropology professor from people are and they truly bombings during World
the route, partly to prevent doctor says your son has
the kind of attacks that a 50-50 chance of surviv- Muncie, Indiana, said he want to better their lives, War II, is a testament to its
have been witnessed in ing, where will you go?”
Europe, where Islamic radi- Malaguinio asked. “If mon- and his wife flew in as tour- the people in power have powers.q
cals have rammed vehi-
cles into crowds, a military South Africa’s Zuma to set up inquiry into graft claims
official said.
Hundreds of local and for- By CARA ANNA eve of a high-level ruling the main opposition Demo- the president to appoint a
eign militants laid siege Associated Press party meeting where his cratic Alliance. commission of inquiry with-
for five months last year to JOHANNESBURG (AP) — fate is a certain topic of Rising public frustration in 30 days and to pay the
southern Marawi city, leav- South Africa’s president discussion, said any further over multiple corruption costs of the investigation.
ing more than 1,100 com- said Tuesday he is appoint- delay will make the public allegations against Zuma Zuma, who has denied
batants and civilians dead ing a commission of inquiry doubt the government’s have led some in the ruling wrongdoing, said he has
in the worst IS group-linked to look into corruption al- resolve to fight graft. African National Congress appealed the order to pay
attack so far in Asia. Troops legations that have led The announcement came to urge him to step aside so the costs himself but is mov-
crushed the uprising in Oc- to calls for his ouster and amid opposition calls for the party can be in a stron- ing ahead with a commis-
tober, but an unspecified weakened the ruling party, Zuma’s impeachment. ger position to contest an sion of inquiry because “this
number of extremists man- declaring “this matter can- “Zuma deserves no credit election in 2019. matter has occupied the
aged to escape and other not wait any longer.” for this decision. His hand Zuma’s announcement public mind for some time
small but brutal groups President Jacob Zuma’s has been forced,” said also follows a court ruling now and deserves urgent
in the country’s south still statement, issued on the Mmusi Maimane, leader of on Dec. 14 that ordered attention.” q
pose threats.
