Despite the sea of people at the Quirino Grandstand on Sunday to attend the Mass of Pope Francis, the military said the event was generally peaceful and orderly.

 

“It was overall peaceful and orderly except for a number of reported minor injuries in heavily-crowded areas,” Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said.

 

Padilla said most of the injuries recorded were just scratches, which were unavoidable due to overcrowding.

 

Maj. Ruben Saliling, who was among the military officers deployed at the Quirino Grandstand said most of the people arrived in the area as early as dawn on Sunday. He said there were some people who experienced hypothermia due to the cold weather and occasional rains.

 

“They came here starting at daw and it's raining. They had hypothermia, they were chilling, they turned pale, they became weak,” said Saliling.

 

He, however, was quick to add that there were enough Red Cross personnel to attend to the people who experienced hypothermia and obtained minor injuries.

 

Saliling said that throughout the mass, the people were very obedient and disciplined.

 

“The people were obedient though they are large in number,” Saliling said.

 

Lt. Col. Peter Sotiangco, another officer deployed at Quirino Grandstand echoed the same observation.

 

“I think it’s a very successful event. The crowd cooperated, they listened to (authorities)...not much problem about discipline. Of course, the problems encountered would be rains, the cold weather. But aside from that, everything is okay,” Sotiangco said.

 

Col. Vic Tomas, deputy commander of the military’s Joint Task Force National Capital Region also declared the event “very sucessful”.

 

“There’s no report of untoward incidents. No negative reports,” Tomas said, adding that there were also no reports about children who went missing.

 

Tomas noted that there were some people who fainted and some who suffered hypertension but authorities had deployed enough medical personnel to attend to them.

 

According to Padilla, based on the initial estimate of their Navy Operations Center, there were about 4 million to 4.5 million people who attended Pope Francis' mass at the Quirino Grandstand, which served as the culminating event for the pontiff's five-day stay in the country.

 

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority's (MMDA) own crowd estimate of the Quirino Granstand Mass stood at 6 million.

 

The MMDA estimate, however, included not only those at the Quirino Grandstand during the Mass but also those who lined the route between the Mass venue and the Apostolic Nunciature in Taft Avenue.

 

Pope Francis is scheduled to leave the country Monday morning after a send-off ceremony at Villamor Air Base. — Elizabeth Marcelo/JDS, GMA News