Filipino Catholics expressed outrage over the corruption scandal during a massive religious procession

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A large crowd of mostly barefoot Filipino Catholics joined the annual procession to a century-old statue of Jesus Christ in the Philippine capital on Friday, some using the gathering to express anger over a corruption scandal involving influential legislators.

Joining tens of thousands of worshipers at midnight in Manila’s seaside park, a wooden statue of Jesus the Nazarene was placed on a four-wheeled open carriage that Manila Mayor Isko Moreno claimed could pull millions of devotees throughout the day and late into the night at the start of the procession.

One of Asia’s premier religious spectacles, the often-tough procession of the life-size statue winds through nearly six kilometers (3.7 miles) of crowded narrow streets near Manila’s heavily guarded presidential palace, a security nightmare for procession officials.

About 15,000 police officers, supported by intelligence agents, were deployed to maintain order. Authorities banned guns and alcohol, banned drones and backpacks, and jammed cellphone signals along the procession route. First aid tents manned by government and Red Cross doctors were set up along the route.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees, many wearing maroon shirts emblazoned with images of Najran, jostled until mid-morning to get close to the vehicle carrying the idol. Many tried to ride the carriage or threw small towels to volunteers to wipe the cross and parts of the statue, believing that the image of the Nazarene would cure diseases and help provide good health, jobs and a better life.

This year’s Nazarene rally coincided with growing public outrage over a massive corruption scandal, which emerged last year and implicated dozens of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate who allegedly received large kickbacks from construction companies. The scandal involved thousands of substandard or non-existent flood control projects across the archipelago, which is prone to some of Asia’s deadliest flash floods.

Several government engineers and construction company employees have been arrested in corruption cases. Many Filipinos have expressed frustration at the delay in implementing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s promise last Christmas to jail lawmakers for wrongdoing.

As they marched, large numbers of worshipers repeatedly chanted: “Jail them now.”

The anomalies reportedly began years ago under former President Rodrigo Duterte and may involve a large number of government officials and legislators, whose lavish lifestyles, fleets of luxury cars, private jets and mansions have fueled street protests, some led by the influential Roman Catholic Church.

In his homily at the Rizal Park grandstand before the rally, Bishop Rufino Sescon criticized officials implicated in the corruption scandal by witnesses during televised congressional hearings, but refused to resign despite the public outcry.

“Today in our country, even if they make a mistake and get caught, even if they cause suffering to the people, even if the poor suffer, even when the country is flooded and destroyed, there are people who do not give up their positions,” Seskan said. “Enough. Have mercy on the people. Have some shame. Step down voluntarily in the name of mercy and love.”

Devotee Venus Lopez, 62, who carried a replica of the Nazarene statue, made a similar call.

“I hope those corrupt government officials will go away. They don’t deserve to be in power,” Lopez told The Associated Press, adding that she prays to the Nazarene to help remove corrupt officials from the government.

The life-size statue, crowned with thorns and carrying a cross, is believed to have been brought by Spanish missionaries on a galleon to Manila in 1606 from Mexico. The ship carrying it caught fire but the burning statue survived. Some believe that the statue’s endurance, through centuries of fire and earthquakes, and intense bombing during World War II, is evidence of what they call mystical powers.

The spectacle reflects the unique brand of Catholicism in Asia’s largest Catholic nation, which includes folk superstitions. Dozens of Filipinos nail themselves to crosses on Good Friday in another tradition to imitate Christ’s sufferings, which draws huge crowds every year.