NCRPO: All security measures in place for Manila’s Black Nazarene feast

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Monday said the security measures are already in place for the feast of the Black Nazarene in Manila on January 9.

NCRPO chief Director Oscar Albayalde told Unang Balita in an interview that at least 2,000 policemen will deployed in Manila for the Black Nazarene feast.

Albayalde said that the policemen will be augmented by "force multipliers" or local security forces including barangay tanods, numbering to about 3,000 men.

The annual Black Nazarene feast is usually marred by deaths and injuries, which occur during the hours-long procession attended by thousands of devotees.

The police and the military has been on full alert since the night market bombing in Davao City in September 2015, which prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence.

In late November, an improvised explosive device planted by suspected members of a local terror group was recovered and detonated near the United States Embassy in Manila. —ALG, GMA News