The Tribu Taboanon contingent during the street dance segment of the Kaplag festival of barangay San Nicolas. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
Cebu City’s Catholic faithful were urged to lend the same support they extend to the annual Sinulog festival held every January to the Kaplag Festival which marked its 449th celebration yesterday.
“If we find the celebration of Sinulog as lively and meaningful, I hope that we feel the same too for Kaplag,” Fr. Alex Atigo said in his homily at the San Nicolas parish in Cebu City after noting the low turnout in yesterday’s Mass and fluvial procession.
“We should always remember and give meaning to the discovery of the Sto. Niño image because that was how our faith and religion started,” Fr. Atigo added.
“Kaplag”, a Cebuano term which means finding something, refers to the discovery of the Sto. Niño image by Spanish soldier Juan Camus on April 28, 1565.
History and religion
Camus was a member of Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legaspi’s expedition to reclaim the islands after Magellan’s first visit in 1521.
The image of the Sto. Niño was found in a burned down hut when the Spaniards set fire to the village. The icon is presently housed in a chapel beside the altar of the Basilica in downtown Cebu City.
Bishop Precioso Cantillas, parish priest of San Nicolas in the late ‘90s together with the rector of the Basilica laid down the first “Kaplag” celebration.
April 28 used to be the celebration of the feast of Sto. Niño until the church moved it to its present date every third week of January.
Unlike the more popular and lively Sinulog Mardi Gras, “Kaplag” focuses on history and religion.
It depicts an important point in local church history when paganism embraced Christianity and the triumph of the Augustinian fathers fulfilling their mission to evangelize new world.
Promote
Fr. Atigo said he wants to tap the Cebu City Government next year to help promoting the historic event.
“We want this annual activity to have more people to witness it like the huge crowd during the Sinulog Festival every January,” he said.
Kaplag started with a fluvial procession and a reenactment of the discovery of the Sto. Niño image in the morning. A Mass was held in the afternoon followed by the blessing of the Taboan Market.
A street dance competition in the afternoon was followed by the ritual dance showdown in the evening participated by nine contingents from areas within the parish. Fifteen tartanillas also participated in the parade.
San Nicolas barangay chairman Boy Desamparado told reporters they asked for a budget of P588,000 but only received half of the amount.
Desamparado also plans to ask the Cebu City government to help finance and promote the 450th “Kaplag Festival and invite participants outside Cebu City to attend the event.