The prohibition of drone flights during the procession is part of the security measures by the Armed Forces of the Philippines
The Philippine Army said on Wednesday that there will be a non-allowance of drone flights over the route of the procession of the Black Nazarene in Manila on January 9, Monday.
The Army’s advisory is part of the security measures to be implemented by the authorities to ensure that there will be no atrocities during one of the biggest religious events in the Philippines.
According to Army Lt. Col. Llewellyn Binasoy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), just like in previous years, cellular phone signals will be jammed throughout a broad strip of Manila City, which is expected to be packed with millions of Black Nazarene devotees and tourists.
Binasoy warned that the route of the procession is a no-fly zone during the Traslacion, or the procession that carries the black wooden statue of Lord Jesus Christ carrying a cross.
“We also ask the media and the public not to have their drone in the air”, Binasoy appealled.
Every media organization usually conduct drone flights to take aerial pictures and videos of the crowd.
The AFP is assisting the Philippine National Police (PNP) in ensuring security during the Feast of the Black Nazarene, whose highlight is the Traslacion.
The route where the cellular phone signals will be jammed and drone flights will be prohibited is from Luneta Park to Quiapo Church, where seats the Shrine of the Black Nazarene.
Mobile phones can be used to detonate bombs, usually improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which only needs a triggering device to explode.
According to AFP Public Affairs Office Chief Col. Edgard Arevalo, the military is supporting the police to ensure that this year’s Traslacion will be a meaningful, solemn and significant occasion for the Filipino people, especially the devotees of the Black Nazarene, who are expected to be barefooted in joining the painfully slow procession, which usually takes at least an entire day.
In 2012, the Traslacion set a record after taking 22 hours. In 2016, the procession took 20 hours.
Meanwhile, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) declared that there were no threats to the procession, but they would be implementing a doublt-tight security.
The Department of Public Services (DPS), through its director Lilybelle Borromeo, appealed to the Black Nazarene devotees not to throw their garbage on the streets, given that there will be no trash bins in the vicinity of the Quirino Grandstand, where the procession will start.
The local government unit also called on the devotees not to jump into the Pasig River when passing through the Jones Bridge.
