Pope Francis waves to thousands of people along his motorcade route after arriving in Manila Thursday.
Pope Francis skipped his arrival statement after landing at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City past 5 p.m. yesterday.
Church bells tolled across the country and hundreds of children danced and waved Philippine and Vatican flags as the pontiff emerged from a Sri Lankan Airlines jet and was welcomed by well-wishers led by President Benigno Aquino.
A sudden gust of wind blew off his zucchetto or papal skullcap seconds after he appeared at the aircraft door. Francis grabbed futilely for it and then smiled and descended the stairs.
A strong gust at Villamor Air Base blows away the skull cap of Pope Francis as he emerged from “Shepherd One”, the call sign traditionally given to the Holy Father’s aircraft. (INQUIRER PHOTO)
As the air base ground crew positioned a ramp on the main door of the aircraft, television cameras zoomed in on one of the windows of the jet’s forward section where a smiling Francis was seen peering.
Earlier in Sri Lanka, the Pope – apparently overwhelmed by the admiration shown by both Christians and non-Christians who came by the tens of thousands to see him declare their first saint, was told by Vatican aides: “You haven’t seen anything yet. Wait till you get to the Philippines.”
“Ah, the Philippines,” said the Vatican’s spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi. “Of course, of course, Filipinos will welcome the Pope by the millions.”
The Holy Father, the head of both the Catholic Church and Vatican, is in the Philippines for a pastoral and a state visit.
Pope John Paul II – now a saint – was the last pontiff who visited the country during the celebration of World Youth Day in 1995.
Aquino led Philippine government officials in welcoming Francis who planed in from Sri Lanka, the first stop of his second Asian tour.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, members of the President’s Cabinet, a pair of abandoned children, cardinals and bishops of the Catholic church lined the red carpet where the Pope passed as he was led to the air base VIP lounge.
The Pope gave Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle – who was among the papabile or candidates in the conclave called to succeed Pope Benedict XVI who resigned the papacy – a tight embrace.
Cebu Archbishop emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal had earlier announced that he won’t be attending the papal events due to poor health and has written a letter to Francis in Spanish explaining the circumstances.
About 1,200 students performed Sayaw ng Pagbati, a traditional Easter Sunday dance, behind a blue-colored barricade that separated them from the reception line.
The Pope, escorted by presidential guards wearing dark glasses at dusk, later emerged from the Kalayaan Lounge without President Aquino and boarded the popemobile to the Apostolic Nunciature in Taft Ave. in Manila.
Tens of thousands of people jammed all available spaces along the route that took the Pope to his official residence in the Philippines.
Pope Francis is scheduled to lead various events during his five-day visit in the country.
On top of his itinerary is a trip to Tacloban City in Leyte where he will meet survivors of supertyphoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) and the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol. The government has declared national holidays during the Pope’s visit, which runs through Monday.
Pope Francis will be accorded full military honors which includes a 21-gun salute at Malacañang Palace where he will be officially welcomed as a visiting head of state. He will then sit down with the President and key Philippine government officials for a meeting.
The Aquino government has waged a campaign against poverty, an issue close to the pope’s heart, but has clashed with local Catholic leaders over a reproductive health bill that promoted the use of artificial birth control. Congress, which is dominated by Aquino’s allies, passed the bill in 2012.
Welcoming a loved one
Despite the unpredictable weather, thousands of people – mostly Catholics – poured into the roads leading to the Villamor Air Base to welcome the beloved pope as early as noon or over five hours before the Pope’s expected time of arrival.
Most of them wore white shirts bearing the pope’s image and had positioned themselves on the roadside where Pope Francis on board the popemobile would pass by.
“I will be happy just to see him smiling and waving from afar,” Antipas Sto. Domingo, 59, of Sucat, Parañaque City.
Alone, she stood just outside the Villamor Air Base where the people have been allowed to stay to “express her love and overwhelming gratitude.”
“I had too many blessings. It’s time to give it back,” Sto. Domingo, a mother of four who all got good jobs after graduating from college.
She said meeting the Pope would be like welcoming a special loved one, a rare opportunity since traveling to Vatican City would be farfetched for her.
Some Catholics came from as far as Sorsogon. Martin Gajo, 52, a fisherman brought his child with special needs to Manila so they could see the pope.
A week earlier, his 17-year-child Marlon had gone missing for a week. Without any money, he apparently boarded a bus from Sorsogon aiming to reach Manila on his own.
Martin and his family sought the help of authorities to find the child.
“Employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development found him aimlessly wandering in Naga (Camarines Sur),” he said in Filipino.
“Laking pasasalamat namin.” (Our huge gratitude that he was found.) Gajo said.
Since his son wanted to be in Manila to see the pope whom he had only seen on TV, he decided to bring him right outside the gate of the Villamor Air Base.
Roads from Villamor Air Base to the Apostolic Nunciature, the official papal residence on Taft Avenue, such as Andrews Avenue, Domestic Road, and Roxas Boulevard were closed to vehicular traffic beginning 3 p.m.
Philippine and Vatican flags likewise dotted these roads.
Inexplicable joy
Most of the people the Inquirer interviewed were teary-eyed whenever they were asked of their reason for seeing the Pope.
Emma Ybañez, 55, a resident of Bacoor, Cavite, could not hold back her tears.
“I am filled with this inexplicable joy and gratitude. (Hindi maipaliwanag na kagalakan)” she said with her daughter and two grandchildren in tow.
“I am standing here in good health and still able to see him. It is more than enough,” said Ybañez who also saw Pope John Paul II in 1981 when he visited Davao. She was 21 when she witnessed Pope John Paul II’s first visit to the Philippines. Thirty-four years later, Ybañez welcomed another Pope, now called the “people’s pope” and she said the feeling she had when she saw John Paul II was the same joy she felt when she welcomed Francis.
Pope John Paul II, now a saint, last visited the Philippines in 1995 when he led the World Youth Day conference. The pope fever that swept the Philippines in 1995 is expected to prevail over the country again.
It’s not surprising because the Philippines is home to half of Asia’s Catholics. Over 80 percent of the Philippine population are members of the Catholic Church.
Ybanez’s wish is no longer for her own. “I pray that calamities, earthquakes and typhoons will spare the Philippines.”/Inquirer and AP