Socio-political dimension of Traslacion

The annual Catholic religious Traslacion event unfolded last Friday in Manila and had an estimated attendance of 7.3 million people. Most were the in Luneta and along the procession routes on the way to the Quiapo Church, but easily over a million joined the procession. The dense crowd and the small streets slowed the procession, and the broken wheels of the carriage lengthened the duration of the procession to almost 30 hours. From main and social media footages, it was a spectacle of faith and devotion.

As last reported, there were minimal casualties, two dead from cardiac arrest and accident, and hundreds injured or exhausted. Considering the sheer number of participants, crowd discipline and order was good. This was due to authorities/organizers preparations/coordination and the religious demeanor of the participants. The exuberance of the younger able-bodied male participants were displayed in their ability to hang on to the protruding portion of the cross, and their jump to the plexiglass pane of the carriage to wipe towels and throw these back to the crowd.

The 7.3-million participants is about 20% of the population of the greater Metro-Manila population and 5% of the Philippine population. This was bigger than all the previous year’s attendance, and the hype in the social media may have contributed to the ever-increasing participation. This was a big assemblage by any standard, and although this volume is spread over an area of thousands of hectares, the sentiment of penitence, sacrifice, and gratitude to the Black Nazarene is unified, solid, and concentrated.

The economic profile of the Traslacion participants are 20% from the lower class, 40% from the lower middle class, 30% from the upper middle class, and 10% from the upper class. It is not far from the economic class distribution of the overall Philippine society. The reason for the increasing participation of this Traslacion event on the positive side would be the improving disposable income of majority of the Filipinos. On the negative side it would be the need of more Filipinos for prayers to lift them from their economic, social and political problems.

This Traslacion event highlights Manila’s urban problems in terms of road density, waste disposal and other urban problems. The sensor drones deployed to monitor the crowds were useful and will be useful for further city planning initiatives. The homily of the bishop during the Mass at the start of the procession, also touched political points in urging government officials and politicians guilty in the massive DPWH corruption scandals to resign/step down from their positions to alleviate the sufferings of the people, that these politicians have betrayed the public trust and no longer worthy of their positions, and should pity the people.

In interviews of participants of the Traslacion, socio-political awareness was evident. Some residents along the procession route prepared and gave food and water to the procession joiners. Others professed their petitions and gratitude including prayers for a better government and government officials, and improvement in their lives. This increasing political awareness and involvement is a good sign and is actually validated by recent poll surveys that indicated that 94% of Filipinos see widespread corruption in government.

Every major event should have deeper implications for politics, society and the economy and the Traslacion trending dimensions are good signs. As a Catholic theologian said, “even if majority of the Traslacion participants are not even regular Sunday mass goers, their devotion and sacrifice even for a single day matters to them, to society and to God”.