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| Sinulog draws millions of revelers, devotees |
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| By Eddie O. Barrita | |
| Saturday, 31 January 2009 | |
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CEBU CITY, Jan. 18 (PNA) – Millions of both local and foreign tourists and devotees have flocked over the weekend to this central Philippine city of Cebu, some 600 kilometers south of Manila, to join the Sinulog festival in honor of the centuries-old miraculous image of the Sr. Sto. Nino. Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan gave the image of the Sto. Nino as a baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of reigning Rajah Humabon, when Magellan came to Cebu on April 7, 1521. The same image was found unharmed among the burning embers of the city when conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came to Cebu more than 40 years later on April 28, 1565 to start the formal Christianization and colonization of the Philippine islands. The festivities turned fever pitch Sunday morning as the carousel-type Sinulog parade rolled off to the deafening beat of drums and blare of trumpets at nine a.m. over a 5.2-kilometer parade route. Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) executive director Ricky Ballesteros said this year’s Sinulog parade participants include 44 contingents and 112 groups divided into higantes (paper mache giants), floats and puppeteers. Police said the swelling crowd of revelers by mid-morning along the parade route could reach to as high as 2.5 million. Thousands more are watching the parade on television as this was covered live by major television networks. Some 1,300 policemen and soldiers have been deployed along the parade route as part of an elaborate security net to secure the Sinulog that includes some 10,000 volunteers. Philippine Air Force choppers and a TV network helicopter can be seen hovering over the parade route. On Saturday, an estimated 1.5 million people joined the solemn procession in honor of the Sto. Nino. The crowd was so huge that the lead pack already returned to the Basilica Menore del Sto. Nino before those in the tail end could even start walking. No major disruptions were reported during the religious celebrations except for an incident Saturday morning when an unregistered banca carrying 40 Sto. Nino devotees and a crew of four capsized off a private wharf in Mandaue City during the fluvial procession. Sea marshals and Coast Guard auxiliary members on rubber boats near the scene quickly rescued the passengers and the crew members. Sinulog organizers said this is the grandest parade ever since the Sinulog was enlarged into a full-blown annual festival in 1981. The Sinulog, a dance of pagan origin performed by the natives to pay homage to their native idols, has been considered as the country’s Christian link to its pagan past. Historians said the Sto. Nino’s image was found in a wooden box lying side by side with wooden idols when Legaspi came to Cebu 44 years after Magellan was killed by Mactan chieftain Lapu-Lapu in the historic Battle of Mactan on April 27,1521. Legaspi bombarded Cebu to subdue the natives. This led historians to conclude that the natives worshipped the Sto. Nino together with their idols as they danced the Sinulog even after Magellan’s death in the Battle of Mactan. (PNA) |
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