MANILA, Philippines - Thick crowds stood behind white fences along Quirino Avenue all afternoon to see Pope Francis for only three seconds during the pontiff's first motorcade upon his arrival from Sri Lanka.
The pontiff waved from his open-air Popemobile which turned to and rushed along Taft Avenue where the Embassy of the Holy See, called the Apostolic Nunciature, is located. The speed of the convoy is part of the countless security measures for the visit.
"Sobrang bilis ni Pope Francis," lamented Nanette Caspillo, who waited for several hours near the Apostolic Nunciature.
Earlier, her group chanted in Italian in hopes of catching the attention of the Argentine pontiff. But when the Pope and an accompanying convoy of police cars and black SUVs arrived, their chants became shrieks and shouts of excitement.
Situation along Taft-Quirino as crowds, authorities, media wait for Pope #PopeinPH @philstarnews https://t.co/tYTrFYYbT6
— Camille Diola (@camillediola) January 15, 2015 Hundreds of security personnel formed a human barricade to prevent well-wishers from from pouring into the route of the pope's motorcade.
Even as the policemen are facing the crowd, they could not help but turn their heads to a glimpse of the pope.
"Hindi mapigilan, napatingin din kami. Syempre, gusto din namin [siya] makita," Police Officer 1 Jethro Dumague said.
He also understood why the people wanted to get a better view of their Church's leader.
"Ang kawawa yung mga matatanda, malalabo naman mga mata pero hindi makalapit," the police officer, among the hundreds deployed around the papal residence, said.
Members of the media on standby for hours in the area only managed to get a few seconds of footage.
The entire block around the Apostolic Nunciature was locked down. Only those previously identified by village officials as residents of the area were allowed to enter. But even they can't go near the heavily guarded building.
Others who were drowned by the crowd and only saw the roof of the Popemobile vowed to wait early the next time for him as he travels to Malacañang to meet President Aquino.
"Suwerte tayo na limang araw siya dito, may iba pang araw na makita siya," a well-wisher name Gracia said.
Prior to his arrival in the Philippines, The Pople spent only two days in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan plane carrying Pope Francis touched down at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at 5:45 p.m. and reached the crowded crossroad leading to the Apostolic Nunciator at 6:54.
On Friday, the pope will have an audience with the clergy and religious at the Manila Cathedral, the seat of the capital's diocese, and with thousands of Filipino Catholic families.