An aerial shot of the 2024 fluvial procession in honor of Señor Sto. Niño. The galleon carrying the images of the Sagrada Familia sailed through the Mactan Channel on January 20, 2024. | Dwayne Baring
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Registration for this year’s Fluvial Procession, one of the highlights of the Fiesta Señor celebration, has been extended.
The Philippine Coast Guard in Central Visayas (PCG-7) on Wednesday, January 8, announced that participants who want to join the water-bourne parade can sign up until January 10.
“It will be the last extension for registration,” said Captain Jerome Lozada, Philippine Coast Guard Station Central Cebu Commander during the Kapihan sa Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
All substations of the PCG will also start accepting registrations, Lozada said.
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Registration for the Fluvial Procession of the 460th Fiesta Señor began last December 2, 2024, with the deadline initially set last January 6.
According to Lozada, only a few signed up during the early days of the registration, prompting them to extend the deadline.
However, last January 6, a huge volume of last-minute applicants showed up before the PCG’s office in Pier 3.
“Basin kinaiya sa Pinoy nga kung kanus-a ang deadline adto magregister. So pag January 6, daghan nidagsa dadto,” added Lozada.
As of Wednesday, a total of 121 vessels have already registered.
With the deadline extended, the PCG is also bracing the possibility that there will be more participants for the fluvial procession this year compared in 2024.
There were over 200 vessels that joined the fluvial last year, Lozada said.
The Fluvial Procession is a reenactment of the arrival of the image of the Holy Child in Cebu in 1521, when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan set foot on the island and presented the statue as a gift to Reyna Juana, the wife of Rajah Humabon.
The activity usually takes two hours, where the images of the Snr. Sto. Niño and Our Lady of Guadalupe will sail along the waters of Mactan Channel on board a galleon.
For this year, a brand-new roll-on roll-off (RoRo) vessel from Medallion Transport Inc. named M/V Sto. Niño will be the galleon. /clorenciana