Police personnel are deployed along the street parade route of the Sinulog sa Lalawigan on Jan. 14. CDN Digital photo | Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — From the Walk with Jesus on Jan. 11 until the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan on Jan. 14, the Cebu City council’s chair of the Committee on Peace and Order says everything is going smoothly so far.
“Salamat sa Ginoo, salamat sa Santo Niño nga sugod gyud sa adlaw sa kasaulogan sa Fiesta [Señor], tanang mga programa ug aktibidades, nagmalampuson, hapsay, nagmalinawon,” Councilor Phillip Zafra, the chairman of the Committee on Peace and Order, said.
(Thank God, thanks to Santo Niño that from the start of the activities of the Fiesta Señor, all programs and activities were successful, orderly, and peaceful.)
He said that the committee also had the same assessment of the recent event on Sunday, the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan, at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
Fiesta Señor, Sinulog events
The first day of the novena masses for the 459th Fiesta Señor commenced on the day of the Walk with Jesus last Thursday.
READ: 200,000 join kick off of Fiesta Señor 2024
On Friday, Jan. 12, the Sinulog sa Sugbo Philippines 2024 was officially launched with a city-sponsored novena mass at the Basilica.
The following days, Jan. 13 and 14, the Sinulog sa Dakbayan and Sinulog sa Lalawigan took place at the CCSC, respectively.
With the positive assessment on the peace and order of the events until Jan. 14, Zafra also wanted to extend his gratitude to the public for their cooperation with the security personnel.
However, Zafra noted that there were minor issues that occurred on Jan. 14, concerning the tickets for the Sinulog sa Lalawigan. This issue also caused a delay in entering the sports center.
Before the event started inside CCSC on Sunday, there was an influx of spectators at the entrance along Osmeña Boulevard.
It was reported that priority was given to those with wristbands, then others who did not have one had to wait until those with wristbands had entered the venue.
“Eventually, nahan-ay ragyud didto ug nakapadayon ragyud atong aktibidades,” Zafra said.
(Eventually, it was ironed out and the activity went on.)
Better prepared
Furthermore, as the chairman of the peace and order, Zafra noticed that the volume of the crowd in the Sinulog season is bigger this year compared to the previous.
“Mas daghan karon, especially after the pandemic…Nakita nato mas daghan ron then of course, kita karon mas improve atong preparation especially ngadto sa Ritual Showdown area [sa South Road Properties],” he said.
(There are more this year, especially after the pandemic. We can see that there’s more crowd then of course, the preparations improved, especially with the Ritual Showdown area.)
Still, with a few more days left before the Sinulog Ritual Showdown on Sunday, Zafra encourages the private sector to set up more tents at the SRP for spectators.
“We welcome private entities and individuals nga naay mga tents available to please ipahuwam. Atong iset-up didto, ipangkatag nato didto sa SRP kay mao man gyud nay usa sa concerns sa atong mga kaigsuonan, ang ilang kapasilongan,” he said.
(We welcome private entities and individuals who have tents to lend them to us. We will set it up there, we will spread it at the SRP because that is one of the concerns of spectators, where to get shade.)
SRP grandstand preparations
Meanwhile, the chair of the council’s Committee on Infrastructure, Councilor Jerry Guardo, shared in his Facebook post that the amphitheater or the grandstand ‘will be fully covered with roofing over the weekend.’
He said that more toilets for male and female were constructed along the Sinulog route, and additional street lights were installed as well.
Moreover, Guardo assured that more bleachers would be provided along the route for the street parade and the said route would be ‘fully asphalted’ over the weekend.
The Sinulog 2024 Ritual Showdown will be on Jan. 21, Sunday, at the SRP.
/bmjo