Carrying her 2-month-old baby, Antonita Montero fell in line with other devotees to kiss the image of the Virgen dela Regla in Lapu-Lapu City.
“I am always thankful to the Virgen dela Regla because she blessed us so much especially with our livelihood,” Montero told Cebu Daily News. Montero and her husband are fruit vendors.
Antonita has been going to the shrine since she was eight years old.
As a young girl, she used to accompany her grandmother to attend the novena for the Marian fiesta celebration.
Montero wants her four children to be devotees as well.
Devotees endure the heat of the sun to visit the Our Lady of the Rule (Virgen dela Regla) Parish in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
They fell in line with other devotees at about 9 a.m. yesterday and got to kiss the image at almost 12 noon before attending Mass.
“It is always worth the wait here together with other devotees,” she told CDN.
What does she pray for?
“Good health, strong family foundation and, of course, successful business,” she said, smiling.
Candle vendor and devotee Rosalinda Sagarino, 42, said she is grateful for her good health.
Sagarino, who is seven months pregnant, has 10 children and is expecting twins.
She’s the family’s main breadwinner since her husband stopped working as a ground maintenance crew member in a resort.
“I am so blessed to have twins. I am excited to see them. It is also a blessing because even though I am the only one working for the family, we are able to survive and meet our daily needs,” she said.
Montero and Sagarino were among thousands of devotees who flocked to the shrine yesterday.
Traffic crawled along the streets of Lapu-Lapu City for the annual religious festival which is an essential part of community life in Mactan island, formerly called Opon.
Some roads were closed to vehicles to give way to fiesta activities although access to resorts and the Mactan Cebu International Airport was still navigable.
The procession of the image of Virgen dela Regla (Our Lady of the Rule) started at 4 p.m.
The Miss Lapu-Lapu pageant was scheduled last night at the City Auditorium.
Jeepneys and taxicabs were allowed only until the PUJ terminal on G.Y. Dela Cerna St. while private vehicles were allowed to pass through Lopez Jaena and G.Y. Dela Cerna, but were barred from entering other roads in barangay Poblacion.
Tricycles had to temporarily load and unload passengers at the Hoops Dome. Even the ferry boats to and from Pier 3 in Cebu City were full.
No untoward incidents were reported as of 5 p.m. yesterday, police said. Police will be on full alert until Sunday dawn.
Around 400 police personnel with tanods and plainclothes security men worked around-the-clock in shifts in strategic areas, including the two Mandaue-Mactan bridges.