Devotees crowd Pier 1 in Cebu City, some raising their images of the Sto. Nino, to greet the arrival of the “galleon” carrying the images of the Sto. Nino and his mother, the Virgin Mary. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
It was raining but the Mactan Channel waters remained calm yesterday for the Sto. Niño fluvial procession which left the Ouano wharf an hour late at almost 7 a.m.
Hundreds of devotees lined the wharf in barangay Looc, Mandaue City and sang “Bato Balani sa Gugma” to send off images of the Holy Child and Our Lady of Guadalupe on the “vesperas” of the feast.
The two images traveled by sea on an hour-long voyage to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño in Cebu City.
A total of 126 boats and vessels joined the voyage to Pier 1.
Cebu City and northern Cebu were under storm signal number 1 with winds of 30 kph to 60 kph due to tropical storm Amang.
“Even if we were under storm signal number 1 and a gale warning, we continued to have fine weather so we went on with the fluvial procession,” said Rodolfo Villajuan, commander of the Philippine Coast Guard Cebu Station.
Rainshowers and light winds followed the voyage.
“From the start, talagang mabait an mga taga Cebu,” said Villaluna , observing that boat owners were following the instructions of marshals regulating the flotilla.
More than a hundred vessels join the fluvial procession, Saturday morning. (CDN PHOTO/ CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Some motorbancas from Pasil didn’t follow the formation though.’
No maritime accidents were reported.
As soon as the galleon of the Sto. Nino passed by ports, the blast of firecrackers greeted it, as thousands of faithful devotees lined the piers waving their hands and holding their house images of the Sto. Niño.
People eagerly waited along the coast of cities of Mandaue and Cebu and Mactan Island at the other side of the Mactan Channel.
Some danced the sinulog. Several lighted firecrackers and released red and yellow balloons as the fluvial procession passed by.
Before the sea procession, the images of the Sto. Nino and Virgin Mary were kept for overnight vigil at the Naitonal Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City on Friday following the ritual ‘traslacion’ or transfer from the basilica in Cebu City.
At a 4:30 a.m. Mass, Fr. Danny Sanico urged the faithful “to persevere in their faith” despite life’s challenges.
The images were then brought by devotees in a kilometer-long procession from barangay Centro to the the Ouano wharf.
The images were boarded on a vessel painted white for the fluvial procession . Security personnel dressed as Spanish guards stood as escorts.
To make up for the late start, the galleon traveled at 7 knots (40 kph to 50 kph travel on land) with an assortment of motor bancas and boats following.
Most of the motor bancas were adorned with flowers and red and yellow flaglets. The galleon reached Pier 1 at 8 a.m. as scheduled. /With Correspondents Norman V. Mendoza, Anie M. Paujana and Melissa Q. Cabahug
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