The Philippine organizers of Pope Francis visit to the country next year revealed to the press that they will custom-build a “popemobile” for head of the Catholic Church, although there is “no specific threats” of the Pope’s visit they will coordinate with their Vatican counterpart to safeguard Pope Francis.
According to the government’s chief protocol officer Marciano Paynor, he noted that “He is our visitor and we can’t let anything bad happen to him,” he stated during a press briefing on Thursday.
The head of the billion-strong Roman Catholic, Pope Francis, noted earlier that he prefers to use open-top cars rather than the Vatican’s bulletproof “Popemobile” used by previous pontiffs and even called it as a “sardine cane.”
Pope Francis also stated the reasons why he don’t want to use the bulletproof pope mobile. The Pope was quoted as saying “It is true something could happen to me but let’s be realistic, at my age I do not have much to lose,” the Pope stated and added further that the “popemobile” made it hard to connect with the faithful.”
The Philippine government declined to give further security details and specifications of the vehicle to be used in the country, for security reasons, but noted that the Pope might opt for an open car for some appearances.
Based upon the estimates of various experts, a total of six million people are expected to turn up when the Pontiff hears mass in the City of Tacloban on January 17 and in Manila’s main outdoor park the following day.
