Thousands of devotees witness fluvial procession for Our Lady of Piat

APARRI, Cagayan — Thousands of local and foreign tourists arrived here over the weekend to witness the grand fluvial procession which marked the arrival of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Piat in the Philippines 400 years ago.

Blessida Diwa, regional director of the Department of Tourism, said some 20,000 local and foreign tourists crowded inns and hostels in this far-flung municipality to witness the fluvial parade participated in by some 350 well-decorated boats.

"It was a great experience for both local and foreign tourists to witness hundreds of well-decorated boats parading in the pacific waters of the grand Cagayan River, the country’s biggest and longest river," she said.

Diwa said the fluvial parade, one of the major events in the quadricentennial celebration of the arrival of the image of Our Lady of Piat, has immensely caught the interest of tourists to visit other tourist potentials in this landlocked region.

The quadricentennial celebration was graced by the personal envoys of Pope John Paul III, namely, Francesco Cardinal Marchisano, vicar-general of the Holy See, and Most Reverend Antonio Franco, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.

The fluvial parade, according to Fr. Gary Agcaoili, this town’s parish priest, recounted the coming of the Dominican Fathers from Macau in 1604, bringing with them the image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary which was later renamed Our Lady of Piat.

The image of Our Lady of Piat is made of papier mache and has never undergone repairs since its arrival in the country.

It is enshrined at the Basilica Minore of Piat, which stands on a more than two-hectare plateau, in the poblacion of Piat town, 30 kilometers away from Tuguegarao City, the provincial capital.

In 1997, the government declared the Basilica Minore of Piat a national shrine.

Agcaoili said Cagayan Valley Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan and some 3,000 devotees accompanied the image of Our Lady of Piat, which was on board a twin-engine launch, during the 150-kilometer fluvial journey from Aparri to Tuguegarao City.

"The fluvial parade shows how painstakingly the image of the miraculous Lady was brought to this island by the Dominican Fathers," Agcaoili said.

He said the arrival of the Our Lady of Piat image also marked the advent of Christianity in the Cagayan Valley and Ilocos regions.