THE Barangay of San Nicolas Proper, Cebu City yesterday commemorated the 449th anniversary of the discovery of the image of Sto. Niño by holding its 7th Kaplag Festival.
Although the festival is celebrated only within the barangay, Fr. Alex Apigo of San Nicolas Parish hopes that the event will eventually be observed in the entire Cebu.
“Kining Kaplag man gud, mao gyud ni ang pagtisok, pagtanom sa atong pagtuo diri sa (Kaplag is the celebration of how faith began in) Cebu,” he said.
The festival, he said, serves as a reminder of the origin of the Catholic faith as it is a celebration of the discovery of the Sto. Nino image, standing in the midst of ashes from a burnt hut in 1565.
San Nicolas is believed to be the place where the image was found 449 years ago. Although, there is also a claim that the image was found at the spot where the Basilica del Sto. Niño stands.
The festival kicked off with a fluvial procession of the image of the Holy Child from Ludo Wharf to the Pasil Fish Port at 6 a.m.
After the fluvial procession, two reenactments were performed on the grounds of the church.
The first reenactment was the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Cebu in 1521. It showed the blood compact between Ferdinand Magellan, which was portrayed by Vinder Singh, 24, and Rajah Humabon of Cebu, which was portrayed by Richard Badosa, 31. It was followed by the baptism of the natives to Christianity.
Magellan later gave an image of Sto. Nino to the wife of Humabon, baptized as Juana, then the lady raised it and danced with the natives who chanted (with a recorded audio background) “Himayaon ka, Sto. Niño (Glory to you, Sto. Niño)!”
Paola Christine Nacar, 19, who danced with the Sto. Niño as Juana, told Sun.Star Cebu how happy she was about being entrusted with such a role.
“Makagaan gyod sa pamati ang paghalad nako’g sayaw niya (The feeling is so light after offering a dance for Sto. Niño),” she said, adding that it was her second time to perform for Kaplag.
The play forwarded 44 years after, when one of the companions of the Spanish navigator Miguel Lopez de Legazpi found an image of the Holy Child.
The second reenactment started with the natives screaming in terror as huts made of bamboo sticks and old newspapers were razed by fire.
Then Legazpi and his soldiers came into the scene, peeking at the ruins. When one of the soldiers found the Sto. Niño image on a gutted hut, Legazpi and the rest of the troops gathered there.
This was the moment when the audience circling around the place started to clap their hands.
Youth
The cast of the reenactment were members of the youth and charismatic organizations of the parish. It was directed by 53-year-old Dindin Echivare, who has been directing the reenactments since 2007.
Two dance offerings to the Sto. Niño were performed after the reenactments.
Apigo said that unlike the contingents in the street dancing category, the two groups who presented at the parish were not sponsored.
In the afternoon, a street dance parade also rolled on the streets of the barangay, especially in Sitio Taboan.
Barangay Councilwoman Jeanette Singidas said that the Buwad Festival was celebrated simultaneously with the Kaplag, as village’s way of giving gratitude to the Holy Child for the success of their dried fish industry.
Sitio Taboan has been known for its dried fish products like boneless danggit, dilis and tarurot.
The organizers earlier expected to have 12 contingents from the sitios to join in the street parade.
Barangay Captain Abraham Desamparado also said that each of the contingent would be given a seed money of P35,000 for their preparation expenses.
However, only nine of the 12 sitios were able to join the parade.
Singidas said this was because three sitio leaders told them that they don’t have enough funds to use if the expenses would go beyond P35,000.
A parade of horse carriages and a holy mass followed the event.
Dried fishes were also on sale. Many of the buwad vendors in Taboan Market offered 10 percent discounts to their customers yesterday, and some decided to continue giving discounts until today.
The festival will end today with an awarding ceremony at the Buwaran area stage at 8 p.m. (Daryl Niño T. Jabil, CNU Comm Intern)