Coast Guard to decide on fate of fluvial parade at 4 a.m.
With a typhoon stirring up strong winds and waves, will the annual fluvial procession for the Sto. Niño push through today?
Organizers will wait for the final assessment of the Philippine Coast Guard at 4 a.m. if it’s safe to traverse the Mactan Channel.
At least 130 boats and ferries have signed up for the sea procession from the Ouano Wharf in Mandaue to Pier 1 in Cebu City scheduled at 6 a.m.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) acting Cebu station commander Rodolfo Villajuan said he would decide at dawn or about two hours before the start of the activity.
“We will call off the fluvial procession if the wind is strong and the sea is rough, but there will be an alternative – the motorcade, he told Cebu Daily News.
In a worst case scenario, the icon of the Sto. Niño will be brought by motorcade from the Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino in Cebu City, basilica fathers announced earlier.
The first typhoon of the year, “Agaton”, entered the country yesterday morning but no storm signal was issued for Cebu. (see related story on page 2)
A passenger vessel and a cargo vessel ran aground off Lapu-Lapu City the other day, pushed off course by strong winds and rains.
Yesterday, maritime authorities said waves in the Mactan Channel are still safe for navigation.
Mactan weather station’s Alfredo Quiblat said there was a slim chance that Cebu would be under a storm signal during the Sinulog weekend.
“If Agaton’s direction is still going in the same direction until tomorrow (Saturday) then it has only a slim chance that Cebu will experience a storm signal warning,” he said.
Pagasa issued gale warning in Central Visayas and said Cebu would experience 63kph wind from the northeast monsoon or amihan which would make sea travel risky for fishing boats and small vessels.
“In open sea, waves will measure from 3.5 to 4.5 meters, but in Mactan Channel waves will measure from 1 to 2 meters,” he said.
As of 6 p.m last night, Agaton was 150 kilometers northeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur with maximum winds of 55 kph near the center according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Some of the participating outriggers yesterday afternoon started to drop anchor below the second Mactan-Mandaue bridge in preparation for today’s fluvial parade.
Rosalito Balansag, a crew member of one of two motor bancas owned by the Gallego family of Mandaue City, was decorating the boat with red and yellow buntings.
Aside from the banderitas, each boat would carry an image of the Sto. Niño adorned with yellow daisies and white mums.
Balansag said they would place non-slip mats on the boats to minimize the risk of accidents to passengers.
For over 30 years, the Ouano family that owns the private wharf where the “galleon” of the Sto. Niño will depart, takes part in the Fiesta Señor activities, especially the traslacion motorcade and fluvial procession.
The main Ouano wharf was damaged during the October 15 earthquake so the family prepared another part of the wharf which requires another entry point by land.
The Sto. Niño icon will be brought to a waiting yacht in the wharf from the St. Joseph’s Shrine where it stayed overnight.
“We just moved the kick-off venue because something might happen there in the damaged wharf, but hopefully by next year the old venue will be ready,” said Vilma Ouano.
She said each year since the 1980s, the family headed by the late Ernesto Ouano prepares the wharf and a barge to carry the image of the Senor Sto. Nino for the fluvial possesion down the Mactan Channel.
They also prepare food for devotees at their residence in the wharf, where the Sto. Niño is brought for a brief stopover for prayers, before it is boarded onto the yacht.
Vilma said it has become a family tradition for the Ouanos to serve breakfast for the participants of the fluvial procession.
“Each year the Fiesta Señor committee involves us for this purpose as this is a good place to start the fluvial procession and we are the ones who also provide the galleon for free as part of our devotion to the Sto. Nino.” she added./with reports from correspondents Carine M. Asutilla and Norman Mendoza