Fiesta Señor fluvial procession: A solemn and colorful display of devotion to the Child Jesus

A crowd of devotees and spectators watch from under the Mactan-Mandaue City as the Fiesta Señor fluvial procession passes in the morning of Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. |CDND Photo/Brian Ochoa

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The annual Fiesta Señor Fluvial Procession traversing the Mactan Channel was shorter this year but not less colorful.

The event remained solemn despite the hundreds of Santo Niño devotees who joined in the annual sea parade and who lined the shorelines of the cities of Lapu-Lapu on Mactan and of Mandaue and the streets of Cebu City to watch the religious event and pay homage to the Child Jesus and his mother, the Blessed Virgin.

A devotee hoists the image of the Santo Niño as the Fiesta Señor fluvial procession passes under the Mactan-Mandaue Bridge on Jan. 18, 2020. |CDND Photo/Brian Ochoa

The procession, which usually took at least two hours in previous years, ended in an hour and 45 minutes, even as the LCT Teofilo Camomot, which was designated as the ‘galleon” that carried the images of the Señor Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe from the Captain Veloso Port in Lapu-lapu City to Pier Uno in Cebu City, tried to slow down the voyage.

Smaller vessels flank the ‘galleon’ that carries the images of the Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe during the Fiesta Señor fluvial procession along the Mactan Channel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. |CDND Photo/ Alven Marie A. Timtim

The ‘galleon’ departed from the Captain Veloso Port around 6:06 a.m and arrived at 7:51 a.m. at Pier Uno. A total of 179 vessels joined the fluvial parade from Mactan Island to mainland Cebu via the Mactan Channel.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael John Encina, the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard in Central Visayas (PCG-7), said the ‘galleon’ attempted to extend the procession to two hours by slowing down from five knots to three knots as it approached the Ports of Cebu.

Small boats await the passage of the ‘galleon’ that carries the images of the Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe during the Fiesta Señor fluvial procession along the Mactan Channel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. |CDND Photo/ Brian Ochoa

However, the fluvial parade still ended earlier than usual because of the shorter route this year.

The route would have included extending to the waters off the Pasil Fish Market but this was excluded because of the construction of the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway, the third bridge that will link Mactan Island to mainland Cebu via the South Road Properties in Cebu City and the town of Cordova on Mactan.

“The Galleon slowed down to reach the two hour expected time, but the route is just too short. We are still glad that the Galleon was early because the schedule of the Basilica (Minore del Santo Niño) was also on time,” said Encina.

The fluvial procession, after it ended at Pier Uno, was followed by the motorcade that brought the images of the Santo Niño and the Blessed Virgin to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño where the reenactment of the First Mass, First Baptism and First Wedding were held, alongside the Mass officiated by Fr. Pacifico Nohara, the rector of the Basilica.

Vessels that are taking part in the annual Fiesta Señor fluvial procession line up under the Mactan Mandaue Bridge to wait for the start of the procession along the Mactan Channel that will bring back to the images of the Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe from Mactan Island to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in mainland Cebu. |CDND Photo/ Brian Ochoa

Encina said that the fluvial procession was generally without hitches and no maritime incidents were recorded.

At least 400 PCG troops were deployed at the Mactan Channel for the fluvial procession. /elb