Naga River comes alive with faith of Bicol folk

THOUSANDS of devotees join the fluvial procession of Our Lady of Peñafrancia going to Basilica Minore of Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia, patroness of Bicolandia, on Naga River in Naga City on Saturday. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

NAGA CITY—Amid a slight rain on Saturday, thousands paid homage to Our Lady of Peñafrancia, fondly called “Ina,” in a fluvial procession that culminated the weeklong feast in honor of Bicol’s beloved patroness.

The image of Ina wound through three major streets from Naga Metropolitan Cathedral to Naga River in Barangay Tabuco where the  procession started with the Blessed Mother’s image mounted on a “pagoda” pulled by bancas with rowing “voyadores.”

Prior to the culminating event, Ina was displayed in an altar at Metropolitan Cathedral since Sept. 5, where devotees had lined up to touch the image before it was to be brought back to its permanent shrine at  Basilica Minore.

The muddy course of Naga River from Tabuco Bridge in the ciity proper up to where it approaches the compound of the Basilica in Barangay Balatas was filled with thousands of voyadores—the barefoot, headband-wearing male devotees of Ina, wearing red, blue, green, yellow and black shirts.

On the banks of the river, thousands of people waved white handkerchiefs, lighting candles and shouting, “Viva La Virgen (Long live the Virgin).”

Chief Insp. Eymard Gomez, chief intelligence of Naga, estimated a crowd of 30,000 at  Metropolitan Cathedral alone before the image was brought out at 4 p.m.

A sought-after privilege during the procession was the chance to board the pagoda, the flat boat carrying the images of Ina and the Divino Rostro (the Holy Face of Christ).

Over the years, longtime devotees of Mary and some personalities, including priests, and military and government officials, were chosen to ride the pagoda.

Robredo’s absence

The absence of Naga City’s popular son, Jesse Robredo, who died in a plane crash off the coast of Masbate City on Aug. 18, was conspicuous among some 200 selected voyadores in the pagoda as it cruised more than a kilometer over Naga River.

Wearing a black shirt with the face of Robredo on it, June Abrazado, Robredo’s aide who survived the plane crash, joined the select group of voyadores on the pagoda. Abrazado stood as replacement for the slot reserved for Robredo.

Every year, Robredo was one of the selected voyadores who accompanied Ina in the pagoda. This year’s feast of the Peñafrancia was the first time in 38 years that he was not around.

Robredo served as a voyador since he was 16 years old.  He helped accompany the image as she was brought out of her shrine every first Friday of September during the traslacion up to the time Ina was brought back to her shrine on Saturday during the fluvial procession.

Fr. Rogelio Largoza, who has been in charge of the pagoda, on Saturday, clarified that being in the pagoda “is a privilege, not a right.”

He said those chosen were required to attend an hourlong orientation that included praying the rosary and a reflection on the importance of Mary in the Catholic Faith.

Solemnity

Largoza said everyone in the barge was required to participate fully in the rites of prayer and procession.

“Everyone should take part in ensuring a religious atmosphere. There should be no drinking liquor before boarding the pagoda,” he said.

Even waving to acquaintances on the riverbank was not encouraged to preserve the solemnity of the occasion.

It was also the first time in 28 years that the Peñafrancia celebration was held with a new bishop appointed to lead the Archdiocese of Nueva Caceres, the oldest and biggest diocese in Bicol.

On Sept. 8, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Most Rev. Rolando J. Tria Tirona, the bishop-prelate of Infanta, as the Archbishop of Caceres.

Tirona replaced the 76-year-old Bishop Leonardo Z. Legaspi, the third archbishop and the 33rd bishop of the archdiocese, who retired last year.

Legaspi presided over a million Catholics in Camarines Sur when Robredo was the mayor of Naga City for 19 years.

Legaspi and Robredo both assumed their respective positions in the  Catholic Church and local government in the 1980s which saw the unique alliance of the Archdiocese of Caceres and the Naga City government.

At past 5 p.m., a symbolic shower of flowers was done when the pagoda passed by Colgante Bridge in Barangay Peñafrancia. Over 100 people died when this bridge collapsed from the weight of spectators and devotees waiting for the fluvial procession to pass by on Sept. 17, 1972.

By dusk, the pagoda had navigated the shallow river with the aid of a “paratukon” (pole bearer) or the man who pushed the barge past the river floor using bamboo poles.

A pole bearer in this year’s feast, Roderick Rodriguez, 34, has been a devotee of Ina since 2002 and has served as paratukon since 2007.

He said “my prayer every procession is for God to help me raise my family well.” He was married in 2007 and has one child.

Thousands of devotees attended the Mass held at the Basilica after the fluvial procession. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle was the main celebrant with the bishops of the six subordinate dioceses of the Archdiocese of Caceres—Legazpi, Daet, Virac, Libmanan, Masbate, and Sorsogon—as cocelebrants.

Masbate Bishop Jose Bantolo said Saturday’s event was a very special day for the Bicol region as the lay faithful came to honor Ina.

“This occasion is a symbol of life in faith and Catholicism,” he said of the 302nd year of the devotion to Ina that had its beginnings in the 16th century.