Filipino Catholics express outrage over corruption scandal during massive religious procession

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

After a midnight mass joined by tens of thousands of worshippers at a seaside park in Manila, the wooden Jesus the Nazarene statue was placed on a four-wheel open carriage before dawn at the start of the procession that Manila Mayor Isko Moreno claimed could draw millions of devotees throughout the day and into the late night.

One of Asia’s major religious spectacles, the often-raucous procession of the life-size statue meanders through nearly six kilometers (3.7 miles) of Manila’s congested narrow roads near the heavily guarded presidential palace. The procession is also a security nightmare for the authorities.

About 15,000 police officers, backed by intelligence agents, were deployed to keep order. Authorities imposed a gun and liquor ban, prohibited drones and backpacks, and jammed cellphone signals along the route of the procession.

First-aid tents manned by government and Red Cross medics were set up throughout the route, where more than 250 worshippers were treated for bruises and sprains by midday. An hour before the procession started, a Filipino photographer collapsed on a nearby sidewalk and appeared to be having difficulty breathing. He died while being brought to a hospital by medics, according to officials and two Associated Press journalists, who tried to assist the photographer.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees, many wearing maroon shirts imprinted with images of the Nazarene, jostled and scrambled to get near the carriage carrying the statue by mid-morning. Many tried to climb up the carriage or threw small towels at volunteers on the carriage to wipe parts of the cross and the statue, in the belief that the Nazarene’ figure would cure ailments and help provide good health, jobs and a better life.

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

Several government engineers and construction company executives have been detained while facing corruption trials. Many Filipinos have expressed frustration over the delay implementing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s vow to have legislators accused of wrongdoing locked up in jail by last Christmas.

As they marched, large numbers of worshippers repeatedly chanted: “jail them now, jail them now.”

The anomalies allegedly started years ago during the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte and could implicate a large number of government officials and legislators, whose lavish lifestyles, fleets of luxury cars, private jets and mansions have sparked street protests, some led by the dominant Roman Catholic Church.

In his homily during mass at the Rizal Park grandstand before the procession, Bishop Rufino Sescon criticized officials, who have been implicated in the corruption scandal by witnesses during televised congressional hearings, but have refused to resign despite a public outrage..

“In our country today, there are those who refuse to step down even though they made mistakes and got caught, even though they are causing hardship to the people, even though the poor are suffering, even though the country is being flooded and destroyed,” Sescon said. “Enough is enough. Have mercy on the people. Have some shame. Step down voluntarily in the name of mercy and love;”

Venus Lopez, a 62-year-old devotee, 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 seated in power,” Lopez told The Associated Press and added that she would pray to the Nazarene to help banish corrupt officials from government.

The life-size statue, crowned with thorns and bearing a cross, is believed to have been brought from Mexico to Manila on a galleon in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship that carried it caught fire, but the charred statue survived. Some believe the statue’s endurance, from fires and earthquakes through the centuries, and intense bombings during World War II, is a testament to what they say are mystical powers.

The spectacle reflects the unique brand of Catholicism, which includes folk superstitions, in Asia’s largest Catholic nation. Dozens of Filipinos have themselves nailed to crosses on Good Friday in another tradition to emulate Christ’s suffering that draws huge crowds each year.

Catholic devotees raise their hands and wave white towels as a carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno passes by during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, on its feast day Friday Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Catholic devotees walk beside a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines on its feast day on Friday Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Catholic devotees raise their hands as a carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno passes by during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, on its feast day Friday Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Catholic devotees walk beside a glass-covered carriage carrying the image of Jesus Nazareno during its annual procession in Manila, Philippines, on its feast day, Friday Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.

New government data posted Friday — for flu activity through last week — showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.

However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there is more suffering ahead.

“This is going to be a long, hard flu season,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, in a statement Friday.

One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that is the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.

The last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century — including that H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-2010.

So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including the deaths of at least 17 children.

Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.

Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed, and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.

Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.

For years, federal health officials joined doctors' groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.

But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it is a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.

“I can’t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease,” said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.

“Now, with added confusion for parents and health care providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable," she said in a statement.

Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks — though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - Pharmacy manager Aylen Amestoy administers a patient with a seasonal flu vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)