The City Council has asked the Department of Education to allow students to have a rest on Monday, January 21, the day after the Sinulog grand parade on Sunday, January 20.
The request, as proposed by councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, reasoned out that students who are Sinulog participants need enough time to rest so the Council wanted DepEd to decide on this matter.
DepEd reportedly said earlier that only those students participating in the Sinulog are excused from classes on Monday and those schools that choose not to hold classes could have make-up classes later on.
Meanwhile, the Church announced that the January 19 solemn procession and High Mass is the religious highlight of the Sinulog, Cebu’s celebration of the feast of the Holy Child Jesus.
During the procession, the Sto. Niño will be taken out of Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, placed on a carriage to be taken around downtown Cebu City via Osmeña Boulevard, P. del Rosario Street, Imus Street, Sikatuna Street, Burgos and back to the Basilica.
The image to be used in the procession is a replica of the statue left behind by Portuguese and Spanish explorers in 1521 and found preserved in a burned wooden box in 1565. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Augustinian priest Andres de Urdaneta led the Spaniards who discovered the image in 1565 and called it miraculous because it survived the fire that gutted the structure that housed it. But the fire had totally blackened the image.
A larger crowd of devotees than last year is expected because the route of the procession is shorter now.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal will be leading the procession, which is set to start at 1:30pm. on Jan. 20, the day before the Sinulog grand parade, according to a calendar of events released by organizers.
In the morning of the procession, Msgr. Cristobal Garcia will lead the re-enactment of the first Christian Mass and baptism in Cebu. The event commemorates the baptism of Sugbu (now Cebu) island chief Rajah Humabon, his wife and some 500 of their followers on April 21, 1521.
After the procession, Bishop John Du will celebrate a pontifical Mass. At 8pm, devotees will dance for an hour the Sinulog, a prayer that is both dance and offering. — Joeberth M. Ocao and Jasmin R. Uy/RAE