SOME 70 sea craft, including 40 boats with decorations, dancers and drum and bugle corps, joined the fluvial procession of Lapu-Lapu City’s patroness, the Virgin of the Rule, last Saturday.
Organizers estimated at least 5,000 joined and watched the procession.
The yacht Ang Mandaragat with the image of the Virigin of the Rule led the procession starting from the Pacific Cebu Resort in barangay Suba-Basbas following the Mactan coastline. This was after devotees attended the Mass at the Marigondon Parish Church officiated by Fr. Boy Asister at 5:30 a.m.
The fluvial procession started at past 7 a.m.
Upon reaching Mactan Island’s northern tip, near Punta Engaño or Mangal Point, the area named after the father of Mactan chieftain, some of the passengers threw coins to the sea as their way of showing respect to the Mactan chieftain.
The ritual of throwing coins as a sign of respect to Mangal came from stories of fisherfolks of long ago who said that those who forgot to show their respect by throwing food to the sea would meet big waves that would capsize their boats.
There was no untoward incident as the sea was calm and the boats joining the fluvial procession sailed smoothly towards its destination the Muelle Osmeña wharf.
One passenger, Nestor Pangalinan, 56, of barangay Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City, however, suffered a heart attack and was brought to the hospital for treatment.
A shower of petals were dropped by a Philippine Air Force chopper at the yacht carrying the image of the Virgin of the Rule at start of the fluvial procession in Suba Basbas, when the image passed the first and second Mactan-Mandaue bridges. When the yacht docked at Muelle Osmeña Wharf, the image of the Virgin of the Rule was brought down the yacht into the nearby church, where the image was greeted with dances, fireworks, a shower of petals and releasing of balloons.
Another Mass was celebrated at the Virgin of the Rule Parish in barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City, which was attended by thousands of devotees.
Damian Gomez, committee of Tourism chairman, assessed the fluvial procession as very successful.
“More and more people were coming,” he said. Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza