viva pit señor!

Cebu, 19 January—Taking advantage of my weekend work coverage to introduce a new dateline. I’m in Cebu City to cover the Sinulog, undoubtedly the country’s biggest festival held in honor of the city’s patron, the Sto. Niño.

Today, we started early (like, 3:45 a.m. early) by covering the fluvial procession at the pier, before heading to the afternoon procession and the Pontifical Mass at the Basilica Minore del Sto Niño.

The Mass ended with hour-long cheering and dancing for Señor Sto Niño, reportedly participated in by as many as 1.4 million devotees. We were fortunate enough to have access to this area because of our media pass:

This is actually my first Sinulog, though I have been hearing about it since childhood. Incidentally, today is also my mother’s birth anniversary; she would have been 60. My aunts pointed out that it was a blessed coincidence, that I was experiencing my first Sinulog, one of my mother’s favorite fiestas, on the day she was to turn 60.

I haven’t thought about my mother for a while, though she’s always had her own ways of reminding me about her important dates. In fact, today felt a lot like I was walking through the busy Cebu City streets with her, listening to Cebuano Mass with her, and chanting and dancing with the rest of the devotees with her. I think my first Sinulog was special not just because it’s my first Sinulog, but also because I was able to share my intentions for my mother’s birth anniversary this year with a host of archbishops at the Pontifical Mass. What a good day, no?

Anyway: That’s just half of the job done. We still have one more day to cover, and that includes the Grand Parade. Today, I clocked in over 16,000 steps according to a rudimentary count by a built-in app in my phone, so. Excuse me, right now, I have to go and soak my body in warm water.

(More photos of Sinulog 2019 in my Instagram.)