MANILA, Philippines -- Thousands of San Juian City residents honored Wednesday their patron saint John the Baptist by drenching passersby and motorists in a raucous annual water festival.

Police intensified street patrols to prevent any scuffles in the city, where armies of residents -- some armed with drums of rainwater from a tropical storm -- woke early to train water guns, high pressure hoses and buckets on shrieking crowds.

One small child dumped a bucket of water on a police officer; he managed to keep his cool along with most of the commuters caught up in the one-day celebration.

Mayor JV Ejercito joined the annual merrymaking by riding in a convoy of fire trucks that used their water cannons to drench children and other revelers under an overcast sky.

Susan Samuele, a 40-year-old mother of four, filled six water containers with rain water dumped by an approaching storm overnight then waited with her cousins and friends in a congested alley armed with toy water guns. By noon, she said she had ambushed about 100 passersby, and not one had complained.

“It’s clean fun with clean water,” Samuele said.

While the frenzy draws large numbers of tourists each year, many avoid San Juan to stay dry. The ritual has sparked scuffles in past years. AP