Sto. Niño image visits Biliran, Leyte towns

AS one of the honor guards of the annual “Duaw sa Sto. Niño (Visit of the Sto. Niño), Cpl. Michael Cedeño credits the Holy Child for giving him a second life.

When we were in Jolo, there was a landmine attack… At that time, I brought the rosary that my mother gave me,” Cedeño told Cebu Daily News.

The 32-year-old Cedeño was one of the eight sailors and Marines that were detailed as honor guards to the Sto. Niño image that was brought to Naval town, Biliran province and Calubian town, Leyte for two days.

The visit was considered as the opening salvo for the 500th year of the Christianization of the Philippines in 2021.

About 10,000 devotees welcomed the Sto. Niño when it visited the two provinces last week for the first time.

Fr. Tito Soquiño, head of the Basilica’s Augustinian Social Development Program said the visit was a ‘mission accomplished” for the Church, which proclaimed the Sto. Niño as the “Lord Admiral of the Sea.”

“The Church reiterates the Sto. Niño’s call for the protection of the environment and for the people to become stewards of creation,” he said.

Fr. Soquiño also said the Sto. Niño visit will raise awareness among the Catholic faithful on Gospel teachings about respect for the ecology.

“That’s why the Sto. Nino is getting out of the Basilica to reiterate and emphasize our constant, daily role of taking care of the creation which he has gifted us. It’s a continuing goal for this mission of evangelization,” he said.

Naval Forces Central (Navforcen) based in Canjulao, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu was the official carrier of the Sto. Niño during the three-day event.

The Sto. Niño image was on board its flag ship, BRP Heneral Emilio Aguinaldo. The image of St. Therese of the Child Jesus was on board BRP Abraham Campo.

For Cedeño, the heat and the distance was all part of the sacrifice he made as both an honor guard and a Catholic.

He said the event was “tiresome but worth it” due to the large number of devotees that joined the activity.

“Nakikita mo yung tao na devoted sa Sto Niño nawawala yung pagod mo (When you see the devotion of the people to the Sto Niño, you won’t feel that fatigue anymore),” he said. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus