Several netizens and Twitter personalities could not help but react to the still huge turnout of devotees at the Feast of the Black Nazarene despite the pandemic.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun in her tweet shared a video of the ABS-CBN news showing big crowd in Quiapo with a question “At ang panalangin nila ay wag silang magka-covid?”
At ang panalangin nila ay wag silang magka-covid? https://t.co/rbh7xftkr5
— Raquel Fortun (@Doc4Dead) January 9, 2021
Netizen @psychokenetics on the other hand also shared a video showing a big crowd in Quiapo disregarding health protocols. He then asked the Church officials and the LGU while did they let the event happen knowing we’re still in the middle of the pandemic.
“Not to encourage this, but the penultimate question really is: knowing the massive number of devotees, why did Quiapo church and LGU allowed the event to happen?”
Not to encourage this, but the penultimate question really is: knowing the massive number of devotees, why did Quiapo church and LGU allowed the event to happen? https://t.co/Wr05sRZjq9
— gaks #VdMbulok (@psychokenetics) January 9, 2021
@myrizalph meanwhile tagged the Twitter accounts of Pope Francis and Archibishop Chito Tagle saying events like this gives the Catholic Chuch bad reputation.
“This @Pontifex @CardinalChito THIS TYPE OF COVID SUPERSPREADER ACTIVITY is what gives the Catholic Church a bad reputation and disillusions the THINKING MEMBERS OF ITS FLOCK.”
This @Pontifex @CardinalChito THIS TYPE OF COVID SUPERSPREADER ACTIVITY is what gives the Catholic Church a bad reputation and disillusions the THINKING MEMBERS OF ITS FLOCK. https://t.co/MXG0NMqi23
— MyRizal (@MyRizalPH) January 9, 2021
Other netizens meanwhile directly held the Quiapo church, IATF, and the Manila local government responsible for whatever result that event would have.
“If there would be [a] sudden spike of the cases — it’s on the local govt and Quiapo church. They should know how activities like this could generate thousands of crowd but they failed to anticipate it,” @VolleyVee1
https://twitter.com/VolleyVee1/status/1347845689842176002
“Crowd estimate at Quiapo as of the moment: 400,000. Manila LGU, Manila Archdiocese, and IATF should be held responsible if this turns out to be a COVID-19 super spreader event,” @iskonglasalista
Crowd estimate at Quiapo as of the moment: 400,000.
Manila LGU, Manila Archdiocese and IATF should be held responsible if this turns out to be a COVID-19 super spreader event.
— Benedict Exconde (@iskonglasalista) January 9, 2021
Earlier in the morning, the crowd estimate has peaked at 400 thousand according to the report of Manila Police District.
According to Manila Police District, #Traslacion2021 gathered around 400,000 devotees who attended the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene, despite the threats of COVID-19. #Nazareno2021
Full story here: https://t.co/JIdmog06MS pic.twitter.com/DsIHlRC7q5
— PhilSTAR L!fe (@philstarlife) January 9, 2021
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno however disputed the MPD crowd estimate of 400k. Showing a footage from their command center, Yorme asked where’s the 400k crowd that people are criticizing about on social media.
“Nasaan po yung 400,000?”
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno shows live footage of Quiapo area to dispute reports that the crowd reached 400,000, as estimated by Manila Police chief Leo Francisco. | @eimorpsantos pic.twitter.com/DuIryCM9Vh
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) January 9, 2021
However, Isko’s footage was taken in the afternoon when the crown started to thin compared in the morning where several pictures and video footage showed a big crowd around Quiapo chruch.
Here are other tweets regarding the feared COVID super spreader event in Quiapo.
— imronan (@imronan) January 9, 2021
https://twitter.com/dreamagainmaria/status/1347853805312884738
https://twitter.com/HeyAeman/status/1347774743269687300
Isko why not just ban public gathering for this year’s event??? My gahd I can feel the virus multiplying just by looking at the photos #Traslacion2021 https://t.co/MyzZy34E7y
— bongsalazar (@bongsalazar9) January 9, 2021
Let's pray vaccines arrive in time for these devotees. I suspect some might believe themselves so invincible & refuse govt's free vaccination. Do they even realize their reckless action spawned a super spreader event? @Noel_Dolor @loidasandiego77 @pinoyanghang #Traslacion2021 pic.twitter.com/58g9C5Ja5p
— Jessie Torres (@molavefinds) January 9, 2021
https://twitter.com/yourBakedMac/status/1347792638481555462
