DESPITE occasional rains and difficult crowd control, the solemn procession of the Sto. Niño yesterday went without major hitches.
Church officials praised the Cebuanos and devotees for showing their faith amid the unpredictable weather yesterday.
Devotees from different walks of life successfully completed the 5.6-kilometer walk to accompanying the carroza carrying the image of the Sto. Niño.
At 1:10 p.m. the carroza left the Basilica del Sto. Niño accompanied by a procession of Augustinian priests, religious and security personnel and marshals.
After exiting the basilica toward Osmeña Blvd. the carrosa and the procession proceeded to General Maxilum Ave., Imus Street, M.J. Cuenco Ave., F. Urdaneta St., P. Burgos St. before returning to the basilica.
But 25 minutes after it left the basilica, the procession encountered problems.
Marshals and crowd control personnel had to be deployed after some people tried to push toward the carroza, causing a slight delay.
Fr. Ric Anthony Reyes, secretary for this year’s fiesta and basilica media liaison officer, said that some schools declined to help fiesta organizers with crowd control this year as majority of their newly enrolled students are still in senior high.
Communication also proved a problem for some devotees after a city-wide signal interruption was implemented yesterday.
But Reyes said they anticipated the signal interruption and sought the services of local radio communications groups.
After the carroza arrived at the basilica at 5 p.m, Palo, Leyte Archbishop John Du celebrated mass at the Basilica Pilgrim Center.
Co-celebrating with Du was Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.
In his homily, Du praised the devotees for braving the rains and the long distance just to show their faith.
“Bisan taliwala ug hadla sa uwan, kita nagpadayon (The rain won’t deter us from our faith),” Du said.
In a brief message to the devotees, Caccia bestowed the blessing of Pope Francis to the devotees.
The solemn procession did not only reflect the faiths of the multitude of devotees, but also left in its wake several trash along the procession route.
Despite the Cebu City Government’s plea for a clean Sinulog celebration, piles of trash were still seen along the roads, particularly on Osmeña Blvd.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CCDRRMO) also treated 10 devotees, most of whom were elderly who lost consciousness due to fatigue and stress.
“There were (also) children who were accidentally left behind by their parents but they were recovered immediately through the help of our personnel,” said Acting Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Julian Entoma.
Crowd estimates for the procession hovered around half a million at its peak at 2:50 p.m., while around 100,000 devotees attended the mass at the basilica after.
Shortly after 2 p.m., some Globe Telecom and Smart Communications subscribers lost their signals.
The signal shutdown was selective, said newly installed Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Robert Quenery. The areas affected were those near the procession route.
The same thing will happen today for areas near the Sinulog parade, as there will be no cellphone signal from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Quenery said. “Just to make sure that the Sinulog will be safe,” he said.
Police securing Sinulog activities will use two-way hand-held radios to communicate, Entoma said.
Yesterday, more than 3,000 personnel from the PRO 7 secured the procession route.
Today, the CCPO will deploy 120 personnel as a contingency force, including four teams from the Special Weapons and Tactics, to act as crowd control for rowdy party-goers.
Around 400 barangay environmental officers will also be fielded to apprehend litterers.
In a related development, the PRO 7 said that it is ready in case President Rodrigo Duterte shows up, although it hasn’t received word from either Camp Crame or Malacañang that the President will be in Cebu.
The Sinulog Foundation Inc. had invited Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo, but neither had confirmed. (JOB, RTF)