GMA News examines the Black Nazarene phenomenon

The biggest news story on January 9 was the feast of the Black Nazarene where millions of barefoot devotees risked life and limb just to wipe the wooden statue with their white towels or touch the Nazarene's hand. All the evening newscasts devoted a large chunk of their hour-long reportage to the day's honoree but there were other news developments that vied for attention. There was the forced evacuation of small miners' families from the Compostela Valley, the controversy over Chief Justice Renato Corona's expensive condo, Caloocan Mayor Recom Echeverri's suspension that was halted by a TRO and even the arrival of Oscar winner Rachel Weisz (remember her in "The Mummy" and "The Constant Gardener"?) who's shooting a movie here called "The Bourne Legacy."

Devotees can thank GMA News TV and Jessica Soho's "State of the Nation" for a more comprehensive look at the Black Nazarene phenomenon. Jessica opened the show by citing a police crowd estimate of three million. This was a smaller number compared to the six and eight million print media reported as the expected attendance. The figure was still impressive judging from visuals of the procession.

Jessica also announced that the number of injuries as of broadcast time (9 p.m.) had already reached 200. (After the show, GMA reported that the figure had gone up to 400. Another network reported 600 had been hurt and this was before "State of the Nation." It just proves that there was no systematic tabulation of injuries.) Many were women who had fainted because of the thick crowd. There were also devotees who suffered bruises, broken bones, experienced high blood pressure and had asthma attacks.

Then Jessica called on correspondent Cedric Castillo who was in the thick of the action. Cedric was able to get permission to board the truck carrying the Nazarene. Though he and his cameramen were able to get close-ups of men trying to board the vehicle, he was pinned between members of the guardians of the Nazarene as he helped them deal with the unruly crowd. He managed to stay on board for three hours until the truck's four tires collapsed. He took the opportunity to leave the scene. Cedric was one of probably 10 reporters who were on the scene.

Away from the procession, another correspondent featured the clean up crew composed of assigned garbage collectors and many volunteers who picked up the trash left behind by the devotees as they followed the route of the Nazarene. She found out that more than a hundred dump trucks had been deployed in Manila, each one with a capacity of six tons. That's a lot of garbage, most of which were plastic bags.

There was a short but interesting feature on the origin of the Black Nazarene. The statue was made by a carpenter in Acapulco, Mexico in 1607. It was called Padre Nuestro Nazareno. It was being brought to the Philippines on a galleon. During the long journey, fire broke out. Miraculously, the Nazarene was not damaged but its skin had turned black. It was brought to the Quiapo church from the Luneta (Rizal Park) on January 9 (no year was mentioned). Many have reported getting cured after touching the statue. One woman said her one-year-old child had meningitis and was given one year to live. After praying to the Nazarene, her child recovered and is now 30 years old.

On the lighter side, Ruth Cabal surveyed the area around Quiapo Church while the procession was still several hours away. She confirmed that policemen had been deployed every 200 meters.(15,000 cops were reportedly assigned to secure the event.) They reported no criminal activity. They did say they were helping an old woman who had lost her way. They were bringing her to the Barangay headquarters.

Ruth spotted a big crowd being showered with paper bills from an appreciative family which had allocated P20,000 for the occasion. Then she spoke to a "Manghuhula" who said the BlackNazarene was her inspiration. The parish priest of Quiapo stressed that fortune telling was frowned upon by the church.

Jessica closed the show with these inspiring words: "Pagano man o fanatico ang tingin ng ilan sa pananampalatayang nakita nating muli sa pista ng itim na Nazareno, hindi maipagkakaila na ito rin ang dahilan kung bakit hindi nawawalan ng pagasa ang maraming Pilipino. (Some may consider the devotion we witnessed today during the Feast of the Back Nazarene as smacking of Paganism or fanaticism but it cannot be denied that this is also the reason why many Filipinos have not lost hope.")

Amen to that.