Around 600,000 visitors trooped to the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan during the Holy Week.

Manaoag Mayor Jeremy Agerico Rosario, in a phone interview on Monday, said devotees and visitors started to flock to the church on Maundy Thursday night due to the “Panatang Alay Lakad”, with devotees expressing their faith by walking from their homes to the church.

He said over 100,000 joined the “Alay Lakad” and the influx of people visiting the Minor Basilica was most evident during the Resurrection or Easter Sunday.

The visitors were mostly locals and those from the National Capital Region and other neighboring provinces, he said.

“There were no significant incidents recorded despite the crowd except for some grass fires that were immediately put off, and reports of fainting probably due to the very hot weather,” Rosario said in Filipino.

Traffic congestion was addressed by the team-up of traffic enforcers and support groups while personnel from law enforcement agencies were there to prevent crimes, he said.

Rosario said they are again preparing for their town fiesta on April 17, which is expected to also draw thousands of devotees as the original image of the Our Lady of Manaoag will be in procession.

“The Our Lady of Manaoag is only brought outside twice every year, one during the parochial fiesta and feast during October,” he said.

In 2023, tourist arrivals in Manaoag reached around 800,000.

Meanwhile, the Alaminos City Tourism Office recorded 23,964 visitors to the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) during the Holy Week.

City tourism officer Miguel Sison said of the total 100 are foreign nationals, 16,819 are locals or from Pangasinan, and 7,045 are from other areas, bringing in around PHP2.4 million tourism receipts.

These are lower than last year’s 33,789 last year.

“Maybe it is because there are still classes since the Holy Week this year is in March and maybe the traffic during this season also discouraged other tourists from coming over,” he said in Filipino.

Last year’s Holy Week celebration was held from April 6 to 9 followed by another holiday on April 10.

Sison said they are hoping for more tourist arrivals this summer. (PNA)