ONLY one shipping firm so far has registered to join the 450th Kaplag anniversary fluvial procession on Monday, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Commander Rodolfo Villajuan, PCG Cebu Station chief, told reporters yesterday that three of Roble Shipping Lines’ vessels will be part of the fluvial procession.
With only one shipping firm participating in the event, Villajuan urged other shipping firms and even owners of small vessels to register their boats before Saturday.
Villajuan said that for boat owners who will be joining the fluvial procession on Monday, the same policies observed during the usual Fiesta Señor celebrations will be implemented.
For the Fiesta Señor celebration last January, around 106 vessels participated in the fluvial procession.
Villajuan said that if no other vessel will join, their sea marshals will prepare for the possibility that smaller boats that are not registered will join.
“We might as well regulate them if they join the procession,” Villajuan said.
He also urged boat owners to register with the PCG to avoid possible trouble with sea marshals during the procession.
Aside from the PCG, the Philippine Navy (PN), Bantay Dagat, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), Philippine Red Cross and the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF) will form the task group in charge of securing the fluvial procession on Monday.
On Monday dawn, the image of the Santo Niño will leave the National Shrine of St. Joseph the Worker in Mandaue City and will proceed to the Ouano Wharf.
From the Ouano Wharf, the image of the Child Jesus will be ferried to the Cebu City Pier Area before it is taken to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.
The fluvial procession will precede the grand reenactment of the Kaplag or the finding of the Santo Niño image.
Meanwhile, the Cebu City Government asked the Office of the President to declare April 28 as a special non-working holiday in Cebu City.
The holiday would allow the city’s residents to participate in the different cultural and historical activities for the Kaplag celebration, Councilor Nendell Hanz Abella said in his resolution.
He said that Fr. Harold Rentoria, executive director of the 450th Kaplag, attended the Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission’s (Chac) meeting last Monday to discuss the possibility of declaring April 28 as a non-working holiday in Cebu City.
Chac then requested the City Council to support the move by passing a resolution.
Kaplag is celebrated annually to commemorate the finding of the image of the Sto. Niño, which was found standing inside a burning hut in 1565.
The image of the Sto. Niño was given as a gift by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan to the local queen of Cebu, Queen Juana, in 1521, on the occasion of her and her husband’s baptism.
The baptism of the two marked the start of the Christianization of the Filipinos.
Section 27, Chapter 7, Book 1 of Executive Order 292 or the Administrative Code of 1987 gives the president the authority to declare any local special day for a particular date, group or place.
The activities for the Kaplag celebration include the Traslacion, a penitential walk, fun run, fluvial procession, reenactment of the arrival of the image of the Sto. Niño, a solemn procession and a Sinulog street dance.
The solemn procession and the Sinulog street dancing, which are considered as one of the highlights of the celebration, will take place on Tuesday.
Last week, the Council also declared April 28 as the 450th anniversary of the finding of the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu. The body also recognized the Order of St. Augustine as the first religious missionaries to arrive in Cebu and the first to spread the Roman Catholic faith in the country.