Security measures boosted for Peñafrancia fiesta celebration

By Paulo DS. Papa

ABOUT 1,400 personnel from police provincial offices in Bicol will be deployed to Naga City for the upcoming Traslacion procession on September 13, marking the 314th celebration of the Peñafrancia fiesta.

In an interview, Police Staff Sergeant Roberto Aguillon, deputy spokesman of the Naga City Police Office (NCPO), stated that the 1,400 personnel are the requested police forces from various police offices in the region.

These personnel will be deployed in the city on the day of the Traslacion procession as augmentation force of the Naga City PNP, which comprises 900 active police officers.

He added that the augmented PNP personnel will arrive on Tuesday, September 12, to undergo briefing and participate in security planning for the religious activity the following day.

After the event, 900 of the augmented forces will be sent back to their respective areas of responsibility to prevent police depletion at their original posts.

The remaining 500 personnel will stay in the city to ensure security during other activities related to the fiesta, he added. Aguillon mentioned that these 900 personnel will return to the city on September 19, a day before the military parade.

On the evening of September 3, the Archdiocese of Caceres led the transfer of the image of El Divino Rostro from the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Peñafrancia to the Peñafrancia Shrine.

This religious activity is intended by the local church to mark the start of the novena for the Holy Face, signalling the beginning of the yearly Peñafrancia religious activities.

The novena is scheduled to continue until September 13, this year’s feast day of El Divino Rostro. The archdiocese has released the novena prayer schedules: from September 4-6 and September 9-12, the prayers will be held at 5:00 PM.

On September 7, Saturday, the novena prayer is scheduled for 4:00 PM, and on Sunday, September 8, the prayer will be at 4:30 PM.

THE transfer of the image of El Divino Rostro from Basilica Minore to Peñafrancia shrine last September 3, Tuesday. (See story below) Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Caceres