The first Sinulog sa Sugbo was held in 1980. The brains of the country’s biggest festival wrote the following message dated January 19, 1980. It is filled with wisdom, passionate vision, and prophecy for Cebu, and may the present leaders of Cebu City find anchor on what the Sinulog truly means:
“The “Sinulog” is a timeless Cebuano heritage that best expresses our aspiration to commune with God. When the seeds of Christianity were sown in our shores, our great ancestors pledged allegiance to one Creator, through the image of El Señor Santo Niño.
“Unfortunately, this precious heritage, which we can truly call our own, has been relegated to the sidelines with the influx of western-oriented practices that are imbibed without any question by many of us who seem to have lost our identity. Added to this are the supposedly religious venerations in some places which, because they are highly commercialized, become showcases of entertainment, forgetting the significance and solemnity of the celebration.
“Aware of this present happenings, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Region VII, with the Augustinian Community and the Confradia del Santo Niño de Cebu, in cooperation with the City of Cebu and other well-meaning groups seek to retrace our steps and relive a religious practice through “Sinulog sa Sugbo 1980”. This is in consonance with the Ministry’s thrust on youth development through cultural revival.
“Today, more than four-hundred years after the birth of Christianity in the Philippines, I am calling my brethren. Let us be one in this celebration. Dance the “Sinulog”, all for the glory of the Son of God., May this year, and the many years still to come, be filled with blessings from El Senor Santo Nino.
“To one and all, Pit Senor!
Cebu City, January 19, 1980.
David S. Odilao, Jr.
Regional Director”
Cebu is not just a birthplace of heroes it is also the country’s birthplace of Christianity. God bless Cebu, long live the Cebuanos. With God’s blessing we will defeat the Chinese virus pandemic.