Procession

“We expect yesterday na sana mas mabilis ito dahil doon sa pacing na nangyari ‘yung pagbaba from the grandstand ay mabilis sana pero ‘yung bandang huling segments 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 pm doon na nagkaproblema, doon na bumagal kaya umabot pa rin ng 22 hours,” he said.

“We expect na sana mdinight tapos na ito. Una ‘yung kalsada talaga doon masikip at parang nag kaaberya pa yata ‘yung gulong, isang factor din ‘yun,” he added.

Albayalde said the success of the event may be attributed to the preparations made by the police together with the church’s administration.

“Maraming first time dyan even ‘yung pagbaba after ng mass bago s’ya ibaba sa andas at isasakay doon. Dati kasi after the mass before na ibaba s’ya before 5 a.m. just like yesterday dinudumog ng mga deboto yan,” he said.

“Kaya ‘yung pagbaba pa lang paglagay sa andas ay more or less 1 or 2 hours na pero kahapon napakabilis kasi binantayan natin with more than 3,000 policemen who will notice na may nakabaricade doon sa grandstand, ‘yun ang purpose nun para hindi makalapit tao bago sya ibaba sa andas,” he added.

He said such good practices including the turning-off of the cellular signal as pre-emptive measure will also be observed in the future for the benefit of the devotees. (Third Anne PeraltaMalonzo/ SunStar Philippines)