Cebu celebrates santacruzan
May is the month of the Blessed Virgin, and as tradition dictates, the celebration culminates with the santacruzan or the reenactment of the search for the cross of Christ.
The Clothes for Life, the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) and Marco Polo Plaza Cebu in cooperation with the Department of Tourism and Smart Communications hosted this year’s much anticipated event at the grand ballroom of Marco Polo.
The festivities started with a Mass at the lobby lounge by Fr. Carmelo Horlador, MSP.
Just before sunset, the santacruzan began with 35 of
Philanthropist Mariquita Yeung, escorted by HRRAC president and general manager of Cebu Waterfront Hotel and Casino, was Reina Emperatriz and she looked so elegant in an all-white Cary Santiago masterpiece.
Fiona King, in a silver satin terno by Philip Rodriguez, looked every inch the Reina Elena while Maria Carmina Joyce Comendador, dressed in white by Marichu Tan, was Reina de
Reina de las Estrellas was Miss Cebu Sian Elizabeth Maynard in an orange Harley Ruedas creation and Kathrynne Cuizon as Maria Martha opted to wear an Arcy Gayatin original in aquamarine.
Immediately after the last of the zagalas made her way down the grand staircase of the hotel, the mini-caroza of the Blessed Virgin, which was beautifully decorated with white flowers and lush greens and borne on the shoulders of male devotees and surrounded by dozens of adorable little girls who came as angels, was ushered amid applause and cheers.
Past Reina Emperatrizes Amparito Lhuillier (2000) Ingrid Sala Santamaria (2001) and Teresin Mendezona (2002) graced the event as well.
A sumptuous Filipino dinner buffet plus the raffling of attractive prizes was the final agenda of the highly successful extravaganza.
Credit goes to Clothes for Life, a charitable organization composed of fashion designers headed by Harley Ruedas, while garment manufacturers and retailers pooled their talents and resources to come up with a fabulous presentation which has become an occasion that Cebuanos look forward to every year.
Beneficiaries of this year’s santacruzan are the Clothes for Life Foundation, Operation Smile, and the Mission Society of the
