The longest Traslacion in history ended at 10:50 a.m. yesterday, with the procession to return the image of Jesus Nazareno from the Quirino Grandstand to the Quiapo Church lasting 30 hours, 50 minutes and 1 second.
Quiapo Church also reported that 9.6 million attended the celebration, while the Philippine National Police logged at least 7.3 million devotees based on drone shots and crowd estimates from the Quirino Grandstand, along the procession routes and up to Quiapo Church.
The shortest Traslacion was recorded in 2024, three years after the pandemic, when it took only 15 hours.
Nazareno 2026 spokesperson Fr. Robert Arellano said there were four fatalities – three of whom were devotees who participated in the Traslacion.
“It is really sad on our part that we have these kinds of incidents,” he said.
The PNP has so far identified three of the four casualties: Rod-Angelo Javier, 30, and Jeffrey Anos, 41, both residents of Manila; and photojournalist Armelito Son, although his death was not directly related to the Traslacion as he died of heart attack even before the actual coverage began. The fourth fatality was a still unidentified male person.
The Traslacion resulted in a considerable environmental impact due to the substantial amount of garbage left behind, the environmentalist group EcoWaste Coalition said.
“Our repeated pleas for a waste-free conduct of Traslacion have gone unheeded,” said Ochie Tolentino, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition. “Such a blatant disregard for our environment is unacceptable, especially given our current reality of climate emergency, pervasive pollution, and biodiversity loss, or what is termed as the triple planetary crisis.”
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Traslacion 2026 is longest in history”
