Featured image above is PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon at the agency’s Command Cebter, Red Cross Headquarters, EDSA, Mandaluyong City. (Photo: SDN)
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PHILIPPINE RED CROSS BUILDING, EDSA, Mandaluyong City, January 7, 2026 (SDN) — As in every big gatherings, as well as in times of disasters, Filipinos can rely on the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to come, be present, and ready to provide all sorts of assistance, especially medical and professional help.
PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon voiced this state of readiness as the Catholic Church is foist to stage the “Traslacion”, the Black Nazarene procession with millions of participants expected. The procession’s long and winding route on January 9 will start from the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila, snaking its way to Quiapo Church, Quiapo, Manila, a march that usually takes day-long stretching to the evening.
Watch || Red Cross press conference https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ApEMEgXPo/
Over the week, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in coordination with the local government of Manila cleared the sidewalks along the path of the procession for participants’ safety.
Afternoon at the PRC Headquarters here, Gordon, a former senator and mayor of Olongapo City, Zambales province, with Dr. Gwendolyn Pang, PRC secretary general, briefed members of the Quad Media on the agency’s preparation, readiness, and deployment of its massive assets in the year’s first gigantic assembly.
Women and men, young and old, even children (authorities have discouraged parents from bringing children), the masses, rich and poor, are expected once again to come and fulfill their year-long anticipation of the highly-charged religious activity spearheaded by the Catholic Church.
Deployment will be on January 8 to 10 of the assets of the Red Cross: men, women, equipment and, of course, including the thousands of volunteers’ state of mind and a whole bundle of good intention to cope with the gigantic mass of people rubbing bodies and faces in a crowd that competing for space.
It will be a full-scale medical and humanitarian operation with more than 1,200 personnel aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of the millions of devotees who will come in droves, barefooted, from every corner of Metro Manila and communities outside the metropolis.
The PRC Command Post will be established Kartilya ng Katipunan near Manila City Hall; its Emergency Field Hospital (EFH) has a contingent of 15 doctors and 40 nurses ready to provide medical services from the start of the procession until the last participant shall have gone home. Well, ideally.
Gordon assured that Red Cross is always in helping mode during big assemblies. On the other hand, he advised parents to not bring their children while Pang said backpacks are a no-no because aside from its potential to cause, especially in a super-tight crowd, the police will be checking it and will even prohibit.
No cellular phones, either, the Red Cross chairman and CEO emphasized.
“We have first aid stations,” the the PRC lady secretary general assures.
Gordon said PRC’s yearly deployment during every feast of the Black Nazarene and, surely in all big gatherings, or in response to calamities, the objective will always be the safety of what he estimated an eight million devotees for the event that culminates at Quiapo Church.
“Our people will be there to assist and there will be water,” he emphasizes. Red Cross will be deploying volunteers in three shifts to cover the whole stages of the event.
“In every crowd of people, the Red Cross will be there, and there will be foot patrols.” He added that all the PRC volunteers will be wearing Red Cross attires in red. He added that for major medical incidents patients will be brought to the nearest hospitals. “We are also mindful of the safety of our people.”
Gordon adds: “The Feast of Jesus Nazarene is a celebration of faith and devotion, but it is also our duty to protect the life of every devotee. The Philippine Red Cross has been preparing for months with established protocols in case of any untoward incidents. All our staff and volunteers are committed to giving their very best to ensure a safe and orderly celebration.”
If you don’t feel well enough, as well as the pregnant, the elderly, or very young children refrain from joining the procession — PRC
Pang, meanwhile, reminded the devotees to wear loose cotton clothes, have sunblock lotions, and to bring plastic — not glass — bottle of water to avoid dehydration.
“We urge all devotees to prioritize their health and safety. Stay hydrated, wear comfortable clothing and footwear, and seek medical help immediately if you feel unwell. During the feast, let’s all look out for one another and keep safe,” Pang tells the participants.
The 1,261 PRC staff and trained volunteers will be stationed along the procession route and augmented by 143 more volunteers in constant alert in key areas.
For immediate response, the agency will position 19 ambulances from PRC National Capital Region (NCR) chapters with roving medical teams and patrols on foot who are tasked to navigate dense crows in scooters. In addition, there will be maritime response with rescue boats already-positioned along the Pasig River for water-related emergencies.
A Modular Emergency Medical Unit (MEMU) will be deployed by the PRC with 10-bed emergency room and 50 bed ward for minor injuries so that patients can be attended to on-site by the agency’s medical corps to lighten the burden on nearby hospitals.
Not to be left out are PRC Welfare Services that will provide psychological first aid, family tracing for loss family members, hydration support, assistance from social workers who are assigned to nearby hospitals.
There will also be established 17 First Aid Stations and Welfare Desks also along the route, including at the Quirino Grandstand where devotees started trickling in on January 7, in Quiapo Church, and major thoroughfares such as Roxas Boulevard, Ayala Bridge, and Quezon Boulevard.
As a reminder to every participant, the PRC emphasized that they should make sure they have identification cards at all times containing emergency contact details and pre-existing medical conditions if they have, determine a meeting place if separated from their group, at the same time to avoid carrying valuables during the event.
The PRC also advised those who are not well, the pregnant, the elderly, or very young children to refrain from joining the procession.
From Quirino Grandstand the route starts from Katigbak Drive to Quiapo Church in Plaza Miranda, a route that spans more than three kilometers (based on Google inquiry).
In summary, the PRC assets for the event, on the ground, include 17 First Aid Stations; 17 Foot Patrol; 12 First Aiders on wheels; 19 Ambulances Units/Patient Transport Vehicles; 20 Standby Ambulance Units; 2 Rubber Boats for Water Rescue; 17 Welfare Desks; 1 Emergency Field Hospital (10 ER, 50-bed ward); 8 NCR Chapters, 8 branches (Caloocan, Malabon, Manila, Marikina, Pasay, Quezon City, Valuenzuela, Rizal. Branches: Makati, Taguig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Taguuig-Pateros, Muntinlupa, Paranaque, Rizal Province).
Red Cross 143, within the route, 527: Port Area, 134, Intramuros, 50, San Miguel, 83, Quiapo, 168, Ermita, 92; Red Cross 143 within Manila, 5,205.
All the NCR chapters of the PRC have been on alert since January 6. — EDD K. USMAN (©)
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The author
EDD, a native of Sub-Saharan Africa Buluan/Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, BARMM, college at UST, is a Manila-based journalist for over 40 years (33 years with Manila Bulletin), has five Media Awards (1 with University of the Philippines (UP) 2017 Science Journalism Award), covered and traveled over 40 times abroad), has contributed to Rappler, Business Mirror, Manila Business Insights, Panorama Magazine, Agriculture Magazine, and others, former Manila-based Foreign Correspondent of Saudi Arabia newspapers Saudi Gazette and Riyadh Daily, and The Peninsula (Qatar newspaper), with 2008 East-West Center (EWC) Journalism Seminar in the United States, 2000 Executive IT Seminar in Seoul, South Korea, with three Silver Awards in Photography, writes Muslim and Current Affairs, Enterprise, Science, Tech, Products Launch, and virtually everything under Heaven. (®)