
Manila – The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is set to conduct an investigation into the alleged injuries sustained by the devotees due to the implementation of the new security measures in this year’s Translacion of the Black Nazarene.
NCRPO acting chief Brigadier General Debold Sinas encouraged Black Nazarene devotees who suffered injuries to file complaints against police officials who hurt them.
“Kung gusto nilang (devotees) magreklamo, we are willing to investigate. Kami rin may mga nasaktan din na pulis. Okay lang sa amin ‘yun. That’s part of our job and we are happy to serve the people,” Sinas said.
He added the security plan during Traslacion on Thursday was adopted from the same set-up done during the Black Nazarene’s thanksgiving procession on Dec. 30, 2019.
“Sa mga deboto, kanya-kanyang paniwala tayo. Ang akin lang is salamat po dahil karamihan sa inyo ay pinagbigyan kami. ‘Yung improvement natin. ‘Yung mga nasaktan pasensya na po. ‘Yung mga naapakan pasensya na,” he said.
Various reports said the tight security used to contain the crowd resulted in injuries where police officers allegedly sprayed an unknown substance on devotees while other injuries were caused by the combat shoes of police officers.
Palace defended the security measures laid down by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to ensure safe and orderly conduct of the annual procession of the Black Nazarene.
“The PNP is certainly asked to undertake measures that will provide for the safety of those devotees. It may be strict, but the goal is to protect them from any harm,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
Traslacion 2020 was the fastest procession of the image of the Black Nazarene in recent memory as it ended after just 16 hours. In the previous years, the Translacion took at least 20 hours to finish./PN