The Sinulog Fluvial Parade

This year's Sinulog Festival Fluvial Parade was a very memorable event. We were so fortunate to be given complimentary tickets to be on board 2 boats owned by a well-known family here in Cebu.

Many thanks to Mrs. Beth Lopez, the director of Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), the school beside our study center, for making our participation in the fluvial parade possible.

It was last Saturday, January 18, when 3 of us from Banilad had to wake up before 4 a.m. since we will be picked up by a van (courtesy of Mrs. Lopez), that early. From our neighboring training center, there were 8 who joined.

With Marivit and Ressie on board the Roble shipping vessel.

We reached the port at around 4:30 am and were on board the Roble shipping vessel soon after. We waited for more than an hour for the Holy Mass celebration officiated by Franciscan priests. When the Mass started, our ship set off towards Mactan Island in slow motion. We were lucky to have very fine weather that day. A short drizzle while we were in the Mass made the atmosphere so pleasantly cool. Of course, Señor Sto. Niño had his coveted place on the small makeshift altar. The songs of the Mass were mostly in Cebuano, and I learned that the one we sang for the offertory, "Bato Balani sa Gugma," (A Magnet of Love) is a famous song for the Holy Child here in Cebu.

After the Mass, we were treated to a hearty buffet breakfast by the Roble family, our Sinulog fluvial parade sponsors. We were so happy to have met the 2 granddaughters of the Roble patriarch and matriarch while we were waiting for Sto. Niño to pass by our ship. One of the granddaughters is in first year college while the other one is still in high school. We invited them to visit our study center one of these days.

And so the fluvial parade started with the booming music of "The Sinulog, Pit Señor!" with big and small boats following the big vessel where the Holy Child is. From the Mactan Strait where we were, the boats headed towards the Port of Cebu in Lapu-Lapu City and then back to Cebu City's main port. There were helicopters hovering above us. A little more than 25-30 boats joined the fluvial parade. I have never seen so many pilgrims and devotees gathered, waiting for the Holy Child to pass by! The two famous bridges connecting Cebu and Mactan island, plus the city pier were jampacked with people from Cebu and outside Cebu. All the boats had all their passengers dancing while carrying the image of the Señor! It was such a moving sight to behold. I can just be very grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime experience, having been here in Cebu for only ten months!

From l-r: Tinggay, Girlie, Marivit, Ressie, Mary, Mimi,
Mariafe, Jingjing, Danica, Tet and Mrs. Lopez.

The highlight of the parade was having the ship where Sto. Niño is pass beside our vessel! It had the 'real image' of the Holy Child. The crowd got so ecstatic, the people in front of me grew taller all of a sudden that I didn't get to see his image close enough. The only consolation I thought of is that the Sto. Niño Basilica is very much accessible and I can pay my respects to Him in person on a regular day.

All of Cebu definitely had a festive mood, from all the 'banderitas' and makeshift platforms along the main avenues to the concerts being staged all over the city, to the memorabilia shirts and images of the Señor Sto. Niño available in all the shops and stores you can chance upon.

I missed seeing the Sinulog dances and the Reenactment of the Arrival of the Holy Child's Image performed and organized at the Basilica Minore. But I told myself that I will have something to look forward to as long as I live here in Cebu!