Tuesday, December 26, 2023
PNP: No security threats seen for Annual Grand Miracle Crusade 2024
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said it has yet to detect security threats for the 40th annual grand miracle crusade for the weekend feast of the Santo Niño de Cebú of the Catholic Charismatic group El Shaddai on Jan. 20 to 22, 2024. Still, it would implement stringent monitoring measures to avert any attacks.
“Kagaya ng dati at lagi nating kinagawian, hindi tayo nagkukumpiyansa. Patuloy tayong nagva-validate ng mga information na nare-receive. Inin-intensify yung intelligence monitoring natin katuwang yung mga ibang security forces para kung meron man tayong nakikita na mga vulnerabilities as early as now ay nakakapaglatag tayo ng karampatang security measures to prevent any untoward incident (Just like what we are always doing, we are not letting our guard down. We continue to validate information that we receive and we are intensifying our intelligence monitoring in coordination with other security forces so that we can implement necessary security measures to deal with vulnerabilities and prevent any untoward incident)," PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said in an interview with reporters.
This is to prevent a repeat of the Dec. 3 bombing at a Mass inside the Mindanao State University gymnasium in Marawi City that killed four and injured dozens, she said.
Fajardo said the Manila Police District (MPD) continues to hold simulation exercises, communication exercises, and walkthrough activities starting at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.
“Our MPD DD (district director Col. Arnold Thomas Ibay) is going around and holding meetings as well as inspections along the procession route,” she added. “We are keeping a tight watch on the activities and we will deploy K9 dogs, especially in the vicinity of the Quirino Grandstand, Quiapo Church, and the crowd routes.”
The crowds will start from Quirino Grandstand, turn left to Katigbak Street; pass through Padre Burgos Street; and along Finance Road, Taft Avenue, United Nations Avenue, T.M. Kalaw Street, Port Area, Jones Bridge, Palanca, Arlegui, Fraternal, Vergara, Duque de Alba, Castillejos, Farnecio, Nepomuceno, Concepcion Aguila, Carcer, Hidalgo, Bilibid Viejo, Gil Puyat, and J.P De Guzman Streets; under the Quezon Bridge; and Villalobos Street en route to Plaza Miranda right outside the church.
Some of them came to the venue as early as three days before the event. They came not only from Metro Manila, but also from Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Abra, Baguio City, Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Aurora, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Marinduque, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Rizal, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon, Antique, Aklan, Bacolod City, Guimaras, Iloilo City, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Cebu City, Cebu, Mandaue City, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Southern Leyte, Basilan, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Cotabato, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Surigao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. Also present were from Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Åland Islands, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos Islands, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Federal Dependencies of Venezuela , Finland, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Melilla, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nagorno-Karabakh, Namibia, Nauru, Navassa Island, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, North Korea, Northern Cyprus, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Nueva Esparta, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Andrés and Providencia, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Somaliland, South Korea, South Ossetia, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Transnistria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, United States Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In an initial comment immediately following the event, Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, stated that over 4 to 10 million people had participated.
It would mark the first time the Annual Grand Miracle Crusade will return to its old format after the celebration was suspended from 2021 to 2023 because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The last gathering in 2020 had about 10 million participants.
In 2018 and 2019, the PNP estimated an average crowd of 4 million, both lasting for nearly three days.