After nearly 21 hours of procession participated in by more than eight million devotees, Traslacion 2025 concluded without any fatalities and with fewer medical incidents reported, according to Manila City Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan.
Courtesy of Mark Balmores/MANILA BULLETIN
In her statement, Lacuna-Pangan described the outcome as "answered prayers," emphasizing that this year's celebration was "much safer."
“The decrease was roughly 30 percent. We had only over 500 people who received medical assistance compared to last year when we had over 700 who were attended to. In previous years, we had over 1,000 patients,” she said.
However, the mayor pointed out that there are “still, too many people who fainted because the vast majority of those served at the first aid stations turned out to have not eaten and/or have not hydrated enough before joining the procession.”
Meanwhile, the garbage collected along the routes of the Traslacion from Jan. 8 to 10 was 1,138 cubic meters (m³) in volume, equivalent to 382 metric tons (mt).
“Nakolekta na po ng MetroWaste, PhilEco, at Department of Public Services ng City Hall ang mga basura—hindi lang mula sa Traslacion, kundi pati na ang backlogs mula noong pagpasok ng Bagong Taon (The garbage has already been collected by MetroWaste, PhilEco, and the Department of Public Services of City Hall—not just from the Traslacion, but also the backlogs since the start of the New Year),” Lacuna-Pangan reported.
“The cleanup is faster and better now because most of the garbage was collected before sunrise,” she added.
Moreover, Lacuna-Pangan outlined three possible reasons why this year’s Traslacion procession was significantly slower than Traslacion 2024.
“First, because the ropes used to pull the andas (carriage) were cut after they got entangled under it,” she said.
“Second, there were about two million more people this time compared to last year, eight million people now versus about six million last year,” she added.
Lastly, Lacuna-Pangan noted that the cloudy and cooler weather also contributed to the slower pace.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2025/1/9/quiapo-church-confirms-rope-break-during-traslacion-procession
“The weather was conducive,” she said, which allowed the crowd to stay longer.
The grand procession of Traslacion 2025 concluded on Jan. 10 at exactly 1:26 a.m., after 20 hours and 45 minutes.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2025/1/10/traslacion-ends-after-nearly-21-hours-7-4-m-devotees