Crowd Control Issues Biggest Concern In Black Nazarene Procession

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced that crowd control issues are still the biggest cause for concern in the annual Black Nazarene procession in Quiapo on Saturday.

AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla pointed out that the surge of massive crowds is the primary cause of casualties in the religious event.

Nine hundred military personnel will be augmenting Philippine National Police (PNP) units tasked to secure the procession. These officers and enlisted personnel will be under the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR).

He added that the military personnel coming from the Army, Air Force and Navy, will be equipped with search-and-rescue, explosive ordinance disposal, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear equipment for possible contingencies.

JTF-NCR personnel will also be aided in their security task by K-9 units, medical and communication teams.

If needed, military vehicles and helicopters are also available, he said.

The personnel will be deployed in five task groups divided into logistics, covert security, overt security, disaster response operations and communications.

The security protocols will be similar to the ones used during Pope Francis’ visit and APEC Economic Leaders’ Summit, Padilla said.(PNA) JMC/PFN