Road fronting basilica closed until Kaplag Festival

CEBU, Philippines - A section of Osmeña Boulevard, fronting the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, will be closed for the Holy Week until the Kaplag Festival at the end of this month in preparation for the anticipated approval and implementation of the pedestrianization of the road.

Lawyer Rafael Christopher Yap, executive director of the City Integrated Traffic Operations Management, approved the request of  Father Jonas Mejares, rector of the basilica, to close the road leading to the Kaplag Festival.

Yap, however, said that the Basilica still needs to secure a permit from the City Treasurer’s Office as part of the protocol even if the request was already approved.

The closure will address the pressing concern on preservation and stabilization of the whole Basilica complex as suggested by experts and advocates.

It would also serve as prelude to the eventual permanent closure of the road fronting the historic basilica which houses the Sto. Niño de Cebu, should the proposed pedestrianization ordinance be approved for implementation.

A public hearing has already been done at the Cebu City Council tackling the proposed pedestrianization attended by Church officials as well as advocates and experts pushing for the passage of the proposed ordinance.

For the entire duration of the road closure, a Kaplag Garden will be installed where benches, plants as well as materials for “religious activities” which is also considered to be a reference for the advocated permanent pedestrianization.

Kaplag Festival is the commemoration of the discovery of the image of the Child Jesus, the Señor Sto. Niño, on April 28, 1565 by Juan de Camuz, a soldier of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, inside a burned nipa hut in Cebu at the spot where the Basilica stands today.

Last year, the grand celebration of the 450th celebration of “Kaplag” in 2015 was launched marking the two year countdown where Mejares promised an extra special one since April 28, 2015 will also mark the 450th year of Augustinian presence in the country while also being the 50th year of the complex since it was declared a basilica.  (FREEMAN)