Sto. Niño feast draws millions

CEBU CITY—At least a million people descended on this city starting on Saturday to take part in what were originally religious festivities in honor of a revered image of the Child Jesus, or Sto. Niño.

Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, Cebu City police intelligence chief, said estimates of the number of people who took part in the procession and those who stayed on the sidelines to watch could reach 1.6 million.

Santander said although the city was so packed, no major crime was reported. Police arrested three petty thieves, however, said Santander.

At the procession start on Saturday, tens of thousands of people lined up the route of the fluvial procession at the Mactan Channel to get better views.

The images of the Sto. Niño and one of the Virgin Mary—Our Lady of Guadalupe—were carried through a 1-km procession from Mandaue City to here for the fluvial parade.

A devotee, Natividad Borja, 61, cried as she waved to the passing images during the fluvial parade.

Borja, who suffered a stroke last year and could no longer walk, said she prayed for good health and for her to be able to walk again.

Thousands of other devotees danced and carried images of the Child Jesus.

Rolando Punzalan, head of the Cebu Coast Guard station, said 246 vessels joined the fluvial parade.

At the grand foot procession past 1 p.m. were Gregoria Arnedo, 57, and Cita Noel, 55.

Arnedo, a Sto. Niño devotee since she was 4 years old, travelled for three hours from Dalaguete town, Cebu, carrying an image of Sto. Niño, which she bought in the 1970s.

Noel said she looked forward to the annual feast.

“You can really feel the devotion,” said Noel, a devotee since she was 7 years old.