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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
January 4, 2026 | 12:00am
Thousands of devotees of Poong Jesus Nazareno flock to Quiapo, Manila on January 3, 2026 as members of the Minor Basilica & National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno hold a procession and blessing of replicas of the said image of Christ.
Noel Pabalate / The Philippine STAR
MANILA, Philippines — The number of devotees who will join the procession of the Feast of Jesus Nazarene on Jan. 9 are expected to exceed the eight million participants last year as the Quiapo Church announced the closure of bridges and roads for the celebration.
In an interview over dzBB, Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno technical adviser Alex Irasga said the event will no longer be called Black Nazarene or Traslacion.
“Our name here is the Feast of Jesus Nazarene or Jesus Nazarene Feast. We want to remind everyone that what we are celebrating here is not the color, not the procession, but the image of Jesus Nazarene,” Irasga said.
He added that they are expecting the number of participants to be higher than last year.
“Because life is getting harder, the number of our countrymen who seem to be losing hope in our society is increasing, I personally expect this number to increase. I always observe that when there is an increase in the number of people who are struggling, more and more people go to our Señor (Nazareno),” Irasga said.
“We have two bridges that will be closed until our image can cross. That’s the Ayala and Carlos Palanca bridges. The bridges will be closed starting evening of Jan. 8 until our image can cross. We also have three major intersections that will be closed,” Irasga added.
He said among the intersections to be closed include Roxas Boulevard, Katigbak Driveway and Burgos.
The intersections of Ayala Blvd. and Romualdez before going up the Ayala bridge will also be closed.
“So, we ask those who want to go to the Grandstand or join the procession from the Grandstand until they reach Quiapo that the bridges they will take are the McArthur, Jones, Roxas bridges near Intramuros and the Nagtahan Bridge heading towards Odis and UN Avenue,” Irasga added.
He also asked the devotees not to attempt to climb the float.
“Please do not climb the Andas, it is very high if you jump, you will definitely get hurt,” he said.
