CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 07 January) — A liquor ban will be imposed here from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 12 noon Thursday, during the Feast of the Black Nazarene.
Mayor Oscar Moreno issued Executive Order no. 005 2020 banning the sale of liquor and other alcoholic drinks along the route of the 1.
5 km route of the traslacion or procession of the Black Nazarene.
The ban covers a 300-meter radius of the route of the traslacion and will take effect at 5pm Wednesday to 12noon Thursday.
Hundreds of devotees accompany the callejeron or the image of the Black Nazarene on its way to the Nazareno parish church on 9 January 2018. The annual procession has drawn thousands of devotees every year since the image was brought to Cagayan de Oro in 2009. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
Fr. Persius Cabunoc, parish priest of the Nazareno Parish, said they expect more than 250,000 devotees to participate in the traslacion.
He said the image of the Black Nazarene or the Callejeron will be transferred from the Nazareno church to the St.
Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral on Wednesday evening.
At 5 a.m. on Thursday, the traslacion will take the Callejeron from the cathedral to the Nazareno parish church via the city’s main Velez Street.
Security will be tight during the traslacion and at the St.
Augustine Matropolitan Cathedral where devotees will have the opportunity to wipe the image of the Black Nazarene.
There will be no flying of drones and children and pregnant women are being asked to refrain from participating during the annual procession of the Black Nazarene next week.
Police will also not allow persons with backpacks near the traslacion route and the Cathedral.
Mobile communications will be jammed on Thursday morning during the traslacion. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
