Philippine President Aquino bracing for a possible Islamist militant attack in the capital on the eve of a religious procession

[웃 910]

Manila warns of terror threat ahead of religious feast

(Reuters) - President Benigno Aquino warned on Sunday that officials were bracing for a possible Islamist militant attack in the capital on the eve of a religious procession to be joined by millions of barefoot devotees.

The Black Nazarene, a life-size wooden statue of Jesus Christ carved inMexico and brought to the Philippines in the 17th century, is removed from the Quiapo church on January 9 each year.

Believed to have healing powers in the predominantly Roman Catholic country, it is paraded through the narrow streets of Manila's old city from dawn to midnight.

"Over the past few months, we have been appraised of intentions to create disruption in the national capital region, during the feast of the Black Nazarene," Aquino told reporters, saying the government had considered canceling the procession.

"Lately, we have been getting some information that leads us to believe there is a heightened risk...the possibility prompts us to warn you of the risk in attending the procession."

The president made no mention of any group, but said militants had been spotted in the capital. Some extremists associated with it were in jail, he said, and had operated from the southern island of Mindanao -- clear references to Islamist militants of the Abu Sayyaf group.

"I ask you not to bring the following to the procession: cellphones, weapons, fireworks. Anyone who is caught bringing or using fireworks will be apprehended," he said.

Since the early 1990s, the government has been fighting al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants, blamed for bomb attacks, beheadings and kidnap-for-ransom in the southern Philippines. The government refuses to negotiate with Abu Sayyaf.

Authorities have since the late 1990s been holding peace talks with Muslem separatists of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to end decades of conflict. But little progress has been made.

The president's warning was the first of its kind of a plot linked to the Black Nazarene festival, which is expected to draw up to nine million devotees, most barefoot and wearing maroon shirts bearing an image of Christ.

Ricardo Valencia, a priest at Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, said clergy had received no information from the government on terrorist threats.

"It's all systems go," he told reporters, while preparing for a mass at a park from where the procession starts on Monday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/08/us-philippines-nazarene-idUSTRE80708O20120108

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Nothing new. The Moro have never been conquered, not by the Chinese, not by the Spanish, not by the Americans, not by the Japanese, and certainly not by a series of corrupt governments in Luzon. They do pretty much anything they want.

But even they will respect the Black Nazarene and the Church in Quiapo. I have been there, and that was one of my wife's favorite places in Manila.

Edited January 9, 2012 by ☼

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

BTW, it is already Jan 9 in the Philippines.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=145

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Terorrism will never stopped. We have to fight back! Original link is here.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Millions of Roman Catholic devotees paraded with a statue of Christ through the Philippine capital under a massive police cordon Monday after the president warned that terrorists might target the raucous annual procession.

The government did not have specific intelligence on a terrorist plot. Still, about 15,000 policemen, backed by hundreds of army troops, secured the three-mile (five-kilometer) procession route for the charred wooden Black Nazarene statue from seaside Rizal Park to a popular church in Manila's congested Quiapo district.

Air force helicopters stood by and cellphone service was blocked in procession areas to prevent its use to trigger bombs. Despite the president's warning, huge crowds of devotees wearing maroon shirts surged near the statue, believed to have healing powers.

"It's a choice between faith and fear," said Rodolfo Uy, 45, a polio victim whose 12-year-old son pushed him on a wheelchair to see theBlack Nazarene. "I got nervous last night when I heard the news but my devotion was stronger."

Uy said he prayed for metal braces so he could walk and work again for his children.

President Benigno Aquino III announced in a hastily called news conference Sunday that several terrorists had been reported in the capital with plans to disrupt the procession, but that the threat was not high enough to cancel the procession and that police would work to keep it safe.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the threat, involving possible bombings by two groups of Muslim militants from the country's volatile south, prompted police to raid several suspected terrorist hideouts in the Manila area, but without any results.

Gazmin defended Aquino's decision to announce the threat on the eve of the procession despite the absence of a specific threat, saying it underscored the president's concern for public safety and racheted up massive security preparations.

Aquino's warning sparked one of the most elaborate security deployments for an event in the capital in recent years, but Gazmin dismissed criticisms of a security overkill.

"It's OK if it can be described as overreacting," Gazmin said. "But at least we won't be sorry."

The event got under way with a morning Mass by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle at Rizal Park attended by about 3 million mostly barefoot devotees. The crowd was expected to swell to 9 million later in the day, police said.

After the Mass, where prayers were offered for victims of recent deadly floods, organizers brought the life-size Black Nazarene statue down from a stage to a carriage for a procession expected to last well into the night.

Dozens were hurt when a crowd surged forward to try to touch, kiss and dab their towels on the statue, toppling iron railings and pinning other devotees. The Red Cross said it treated more than 250 people with bruises and other minor injuries throughout the day, including some from the morning melee.

The carriage's wheels later broke, slowing the procession. Authorities said the parade might be cut short as it dragged on into the night.

In addition to hundreds of army troops, the military said it deployed 19 teams of explosive experts, 33 units with bomb-sniffing dogs, crowd-control squads and ambulances. It put a 500-member rapid reaction force and three helicopters on standby.

There were suspicions that attackers might come from two radical Muslim groups, including the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

The wooden statue of Christ, crowned with thorns and bearing a cross, is believed to have been brought from Mexico to Manila in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fire, but the charred statue survived and was named the Black Nazarene.

Some believe the statue's survival of fires and earthquakes through the centuries and intense bombings during World War II is a testament to its powers.

The Philippines is Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

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[ready4ONE 5,400]

Glad it went well. Terrorists suck!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/346055-philippine-president-aquino-bracing-for-a-possible-islamist-militant-attack-in-the-capital-on-the-eve-of-a-religious-procession/

Another wet behind the ears Aquino wants to be a Marcos.

Topics could be merged.

Edited January 9, 2012 by ☼

[Ban Hammer 13,754]

Topics could be merged.

and done