IF THE traditional seaborne procession for the Fiesta Señor cannot be held on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, because of the weather, a motorcade will bring the images of the Sto. Niño, the Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph to Cebu City via the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).
This was what organizers of this year’s Fiesta Señor told reporters on Wednesday, Jan. 11.
Fr. John Ion Miranda, OSA, Fiesta Señor 2023 head secretariat and chairman of the fiesta’s health, safety and security committee, said they are leaving this option open after sudden heavy rains occurred during the dry run for the seaborne procession on Wednesday, Jan. 11.
But an official of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in the Visayas assured that the weather will improve starting Saturday, Jan. 14, or on the day the seaborne procession will take place.
Engineer Al Quiblat, Pagasa Visayas weather chief, told SunStar Cebu that the sea condition in Cebu is also expected to improve on Saturday.
But Quiblat urged organizers to prepare for a possible change in the weather, adding that there is still a 50 percent chance of rainfall that might occur on Saturday, particularly in the afternoon and evening.
Dry run
Despite the sudden rains, Commander Mark Larsen Mariano, Coast Guard District Central Visayas (CGDCV) deputy commander, said the dry run for the seaborne procession on Wednesday proceeded without any major hitches.
Mariano said the dry run, which started at the Naval Forces Central headquarters in Lapu-Lapu City and ended in the Cebu City Pier 1 Area, took about an hour and a half.
“Of course, the dry run did not include the rest of the participants of the seaborne procession like the big vessels and tugboats,” Mariano said in Tagalog.
As of Monday, Jan. 9, 76 sea vessels had registered to join the seaborne procession, according to the information officer of the CGDCV.
As part of the Traslacion, the three images will be driven to Lapu-Lapu City on Friday, Jan. 13, where they will stay overnight at the Nuestra Señora de la Regla Parish National Shrine.