Terrorists could attack during Feast of Black Nazarene procession, warns P-Noy

ABS-CBNNews.com reports that President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III warned on Sunday, January 8, that "terrorists could carry out an attack during the procession for the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Manila on Monday, January 9." Aquino issued the statement during a press conference.

The report quoted the president, who said, "In any open democracy, there will always be challenge coming from extremist elements. The sad reality of the world today is that terrorists want to disrupt the ability of people to live their lives the way they want to , including the freedom to worship."

Aquino added: "Lately, we have been getting some information that led us to believe that there is a heightened risk that leads us to take the necessary precautions, especially given the nature of the procession for the Black Nazarene which involves quite a huge number of people."

ABS-CBNNews.com revealed that when asked But asked "how serious the threat is," Aquino said, "If there is a very high risk, we would have moved to cancel the procession." He also said that the "threat" was local. He explained: "There will be various other units that have been tasked to directly support the activity and the security preparations tomorrow, plus there are other units that have been increased after these people have been spotted in the metropolis." More than 2,000 policemen have been deployed  to the area.

Nevertheless, as the report noted, "thousands of Black Nazarene devotees are expected to attend the procession from the Quirino Grandstand to the Quiapo Church." The procession usually goes on from morning to late afternoon or early evening.

The report did not say if Aquino specified the group or individuals who are the purported progenitors of the "terror threat."

For more on this story, log on to ABS-CBNNews.com.

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