Sto. Niño image lost in church fire
MANILA, Philippines – The 300-year-old image of the Child Jesus of the Sto. Niño de Pandacan Parish was officially declared lost in the fire that gutted the church in Manila on Friday.
The wooden image was likely reduced to ashes, city fire marshal Col. Gerrandie Agonos said yesterday.
Only a portion of the image’s crown, its globe and a cross, andador or baby walker and clothes were found in the rubble on Saturday, according to the church’s lay person and historical artifact expert Robert Fabro Tomas.
Tomas said they were able to locate the silver hat worn on the image during a procession for fire prevention after every Easter Sunday.
The church’s altar where the image was kept was also destroyed by fire.
Tomas said the Sto. Niño image was enshrined in the Tagalog folk song “Sitsiritsit, alibangbang,” which sang of a puto seco store near the Pandacan church.
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