DEVOTEES may not get a chance to wipe handkerchiefs on the glass encasing the image of Holy Child Jesus during the Traslacion this Friday.
With heavier traffic expected on the new route, organizers and traffic managers agreed to strictly prohibit wiping of handkerchiefs and taking of flowers from the vehicle carrying the image during the annual motorcade, which precedes the Sinulog Festival.
The motorcade, which takes the images of Holy Child Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe to Mandaue City, will take the Banilad-Talamban area, instead of the usual Mabolo-Subangdaku route.
It has become a tradition for devotees to wipe handkerchiefs and take or give flowers with the help of marshals guarding the image of the Holy Child Jesus during the motorcade.
Prohibiting these acts is seen to make the motorcade more orderly.
Glenn Antigua, operations chief of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue, earlier said the event may cause heavier traffic on the new route because there are fewer diversion roads for vehicles in the area.
Motorcade
Traslacion organizers met with traffic and police officials from the city last Friday to discuss the new route.
The motorcade will pass through Jakosalem St., Gorordo Ave., and Archbishop Reyes Ave. going to Barangay Banilad; then it will turn left to A.S. Fortuna St. in Mandaue City, takes the A.S. Fortuna Ext., proceeds to A. del Rosario St. and turns to S.B. Cabahug St. where the National Shrine of St. Joseph is located.
Mayor Jonas Cortes will wait for the motorcade at the corner of Gov. Cuenco Ave. and A.S. Fortuna St. for the turnover of the images of the Holy Child Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe from acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella.
Paulino Yabao, a consultant of the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, said residents and devotees in the Ban-Tal area and the western part of Mandaue are thankful for the new route as it will allow them to pay homage to the Holy Child Jesus.
He said the Traslacion, which is the passage of the images of the Holy Child Jesus and Virgin Mary for their reunion with the image of St. Joseph in Mandaue City, will take the old route next year.
Apart from wiping handkerchiefs and taking or giving of flowers, other activities to be prohibited are the releasing of balloons and blasting of firecrackers.