The Sinulog Week ushers in the year 2006

It’s just a week in the year 2006 and last Friday, the Sinulog Week was formally launched with a Holy Mass at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño’s Pilgrim Center in the afternoon complete with a launching parade, a mini-Sinulog dancing where the dancers were attired in the costumes of other Asian countries. This event was attended by no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) herself, who has always believed in Cebu’s great tourism potential. Yes, the launching was dubbed "Sinulog goes Asian" and rightfully so, since the Sinulog Weekend has become this part of the world’s only grand festival and a top tourist drawer for the country.

If you want to know why for this year the Sinulog is celebrated quite early when it should be in the third week of January, well the reason for that is, it is still celebrated in the third week of January except that for this January 2006, there are five Sundays, since Jan. 1 was a Sunday. So there, it seems that we will be celebrating the Sinulog a week earlier.

As expected, this Sinulog Week brings in hundreds of thousands of visitors or devotees from all over the neighboring islands and from abroad to join the solemn procession in honor of Señor Sto. Niño and the Grand Sinulog Parade the next day. In the last five years, the Sinulog Foundation Inc., chaired by Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, has extended the Sinulog Weekend into a week of activities, so for every single day and night, you will hear the drums rolling in celebration of the Sinulog Festival.

One of the most exciting features of the Sinulog Festival is the least-watched because it happens too early at dawn… that’s the fluvial parade, where the image of the Holy Child is brought from the Basilica Minore to the St. Joseph’s Church in Mandaue City and the next day, on Saturday morning, it is brought to the pier and goes back to Cebu City by sea. To see this event, you either stand along the seaside or ride your friend’s yacht or hire a banca. I don’t know why, but the Sinulog Foundation’s executive director, Ricky Ballesteros, told me that the photos taken during the fluvial parade usually win the annual photo contest.

There’s no doubt that there are millions of devotees for Señor Sto. Niño who will come to Cebu just for the procession on Saturday afternoon. This procession is perhaps the most unique in the sense that there is only one carossa bearing the Holy Child Jesus accompanied by a sea of devotees. This procession is a sight to behold because it starts at the Basilica and ends in the Basilica and it’s so long that the tail hasn’t even left the church when the front end already gets back into the church. This is why it is safe to say that this procession can be considered the largest procession in this country, if not the world! It’s so solemn, you could hear a pin drop!

Of course for the Sunday’s Grand Parade, the exact opposite happens, where the previous night’s devotees who came to honor the Holy Child with prayers and solemnity in a procession now celebrate it on Sunday in a joyous and festive atmosphere. Let me point out here that the Sinulog organizers insist that the Sinulog Parade is not a Mardi Gras because the main theme of the Sinulog is still to praise and worship the Holy Child Jesus.

This is in sharp contrast to the Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro along the Sambadromo route where numerous floats with skimpily clad or even naked women wearing only plumage and painted in all colors are its main features. The Sinulog is first and foremost Cebu’s way of honoring Señor Sto. Niño through a procession and a grand parade.

This year’s Sinulog Week is the 26th anniversary of the holding of the Sinulog. It all began in 1980 when then Cebu City Customs Collector David Odilao Jr. wanted to expand the "Sinug" dance offering by old ladies inside the Basilica into a parade of sorts. Back then, many of us would even go to faraway Ati-atihan Festival in Kalibo. But then, the problem with the Ati-atihan was that domestic and foreign tourists could not hope to stay overnight due to the limited number of hotel rooms. Hotel entrepreneurs also didn’t want to operate a hotel that would get filled with guests only one week in a year.

Hence, when the City of Cebu, led then by Mayor Florentino Solon, embraced the idea of the Sinulog, the first parade was done just around the Basilica and it became an instant success. It was then that the Sinulog Foundation was born and its executive director, Juan "Dodong" Aquino, took up the cudgels and made the Sinulog Festival what it is today. Two months ago, Aquino passed away… so this will be the first Sinulog in 26 years without him around. But in the last five years, since the retirement of Aquino, Sinulog Executive Director Ricky Ballesteros has learned the ropes from his tutor and promises a better Sinulog every year.

Another Cebuano who gave her invaluable contribution to the Sinulog is Ms. Dolly Suzara of the University of San Carlos Dance Troupe. Her meticulous choreography has ensured that the famous Sinulog dance will always be linked to the worship of the Holy Child Jesus. It is not just some kind of cultural or modern dance interpretation as the Sinulog is always considered Cebu’s fiesta in honor of Señor Sto. Niño.

For this year, Sinulog 2006 will have a unique feature… which is dubbed "See Cebu in a Carousel" where 10 of Cebu’s historical sites are printed on 15-foot tarpaulins that will be placed in strategic areas. Instead of all the competing contingents dancing only at the Cebu Sports Center, this year, the judges will be going around to judge the competition, not just in the Sports Center, but also in strategic areas along the parade route.

Come Jan. 13 is this year’s 26th Cebu Popular Music Festival, which will be held at the Cebu Coliseum. Twelve original Cebuano compositions will compete in this year’s event. Thanks to Rep. Eduardo Gullas who started the Pop Music Festival 26 years ago to ensure that the Cebuano language, culture and music will never die out. I understand from Cebu Pop executive project director Philogene Florita that this year’s competition will be unique compared to the past years since there will now be a "Texters’ Choice award," which will be given to the composer with the highest number of votes submitted through text. You have to give it to the Cebuanos to mix heritage and culture with modern technology!

So if you wish to go to Cebu and join the Sinulog Week, you are very much welcome; hopefully you have made advanced arrangements with your travel agent, otherwise make sure you have a friend who lives in Cebu. From the words of Sinulog Foundation Chairman Michael Rama, what is required of all who attend is their understanding that the Sinulog is a religious activity aimed to worship and honor Señor Sto. Niño.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.