Cebu’s Sto. Niño fest, Sinulog draw 3 million pilgrims, revelers

UNWAVERING FAITH | Throngs of people fill the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño’s Pilgrim Center in Cebu City during the Pontifical Mass in celebration of the feast of the Sto. Niño on Sunday. (Photo from the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño)

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — About 3 million devotees and revelers were out on the streets here on Sunday to celebrate the feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu by attending Masses and watching the grand dance parade that brought to an end the Sinulog Festival, police authorities here said.

Except for some problems with traffic and petty crimes, the Sinulog parade and ritual showdown involving 21 dancing contingents held at the city’s South Road Properties was a “generally peaceful and joyous” event, said Police Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas.

At the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu in downtown Cebu, multitudes came to attend Masses and to pay homage to the Child Jesus, whose feast day is celebrated every third Sunday of January.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, who presided over the 6 a.m. Pontifical Mass at the basilica, lauded the millions of Sto. Niño devotees for their unwavering faith amid the challenges and calamities in the past decade, including the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in October 2013 that caused widespread destruction in Bohol and Cebu; Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) that swept through the Visayas in November 2013; Typhoon “Odette” (international name: Rai) that brought to a standstill economic activities in Cebu and parts of the Visayas in December 2021; and the COVID-19 pandemic that struck the world.

‘Be better persons’

“Because we are devotees of the Sto. Niño, may our lifestyle be influenced by this little child. The center of our lives is not us, but God. May it bring about transcendence. May we become better persons and children of God as well as build a better community,” added the prelate in his homily, who was joined by retired Bishop Antonio Rañola and about 80 priests during the Mass.

The Pontifical Mass was the first of the nine Masses held at the basilica on Sunday, with thousands of devotees and pilgrims from all over the world spilling out of the church’s courtyard during each celebration.

The Feast of the Sto. Niño’s centuries-old ritual prayer dance, performed by devotees and candle sellers at the entrances of the 283-year-old basilica, eventually evolved into the Sinulog Festival, the secular event to honor the Child Jesus that has become the biggest tourism drawer of the city in the last 44 years.

At the Sinulog grand parade, the 21 dancing contingents were joined by 31 floats, 14 “higantes” (paper-mache giants) and 10 puppeteers. It was opened by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama at 9:30 a.m. and ended at night with a musical fireworks display.