Bulacan town revisits ‘painful’ lessons from pagoda tragedy

MEMORIAL Employees of the municipal government of Bocaue in Bulacan light candles and offer flowers on Sunday night while on board the pagoda of the “Mahal na Krus sa Wawa” (Holy Cross of Wawa) that is getting ready for the fluvial procession along Bocaue River, in memory of the 297 residents who died in 1993 after that year’s version of the makeshift vessel sank. —CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE

BOCAUE, BULACAN—Candles were lit, flowers were offered and bells were rung once more when residents here held a fluvial procession along the Bocaue River on Sunday to remember the pagoda tragedy that struck the town three decades ago that claimed the lives of 297 persons when the cross-bearing floating craft tipped over due to excess weight.

Up until 2014, Bocaue has stopped holding the fluvial procession that was part of the town’s annual river festival, where devotees paid tribute to the “Mahal na Krus sa Wawa” (Holy Cross of Wawa).

In Sunday’s novena Mass aboard the well-lit pagoda built by the local government, the names of the victims were recited in prayers, as the Bocaue Parish Church’s bell tolled while the pagoda was navigating the river to commemorate the 30th year since the July 2, 1993 tragedy.

Jacinto Pascual IV, 45, a resident of Barangay Bambang who did not watch Sunday’s 45-minute river procession, said the tragedy had tormented him for years as the grim images of people around him, including his friends, who were screaming for help while drowning kept popping into his head until today.

Pascual, then 15 years old, and only two of his 15 high school friends were among the survivors of the river mishap.

“I managed to save four in our group, but the two eventually died. I was really shocked and was not myself anymore as I walked home soaked and naked that day,” Pascual told the Inquirer on Sunday.

Packed

Of the about 500 on board the pagoda that year, 297 died after the floating structure capsized as devotees on board rushed to one side when they avoided a “kwitis” (skyrocket) flying toward them.

The pagoda never sailed again until local residents and businessmen revived the grand procession in 2014. Learning from the town’s “painful history,” Bulacan Rep. Ambrosio Cruz Jr., this year’s head of the festival committee, said the devotees and local officials must focus on the lessons learned from it.“The safety of joining the fluvial parade must always be the priority. That’s why the design of the pagoda is submitted to the Coast Guard for approval,” Cruz said.

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