ILOILO City – Around a thousand devotees are expected to join this afternoon’s fluvial procession in honor of the Señor Santo Niño.
The procession, one of the religious activities of the 2019 Dinagyang Festival, starts at Fort San Pedro around 3 p.m. and ends on Muelle Loney Street.
The Santo Niño would be ferried by a patrol boat of the Philippine Coast Guard.
On the other hand, 22 motorboats plying the Iloilo City – Guimaras route would ferry the devotees, according to Philippine Coast Guard – Iloilo chief Lieutenant Commander Rodolfo Dela Peña.
Each boat can carry an average of 40 devotees.
The disembarkation area on Muelle Loney Street is in front of the Bureau of Customs.
From there, the Santo Niño and devotees would make a foot procession to the San Jose de Placer Church at Plaza Libertad.
The coastguard would be mobilizing three rubber boats and three aluminum boats as sea marshals.
It would also be embedding boat marshals in each motorboat to ensure the safety of devotees.
Dela Peña urged devotees to refrain from jostling for seats in motorboats to avoid accidents.
“Please cooperate with our coastguards,” he said.
Dinagyang Festival started in 1967. A replica of the Santo Niño de Cebu was brought from Cebu to the San Jose de Placer Church. The image was enthusiastically received by the Ilonggos who danced on the streets of Iloilo City.
Father Edcel Alcayaga previously said the Parish of San Jose de Placer would make sure Dinagyang Festival’s religious aspect won’t be overshadowed by the festivity’s pageantry.
The Parish of San Jose de Placer is of the three organizers of the yearly event. The two others are the city government and the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. The three signed a memorandum of agreement on Oct. 8, 2018.
“We focus more on how to deepen the devotion to Señor Santo Niño,” said Alcayaga.
The parish formed a commission on media affairs to further promote Dinagyang’s religious aspect.
“Among others, we will come up with videos so that those who visit the parish would have a glimpse of really what is really happening during the festival,” he said.
Dinagyang is Iloilo City’s version of the Ati-atihan celebrations widely observed not only in Panay Island but also in other parts of the country. It may not be as ancient as the one in Kalibo, Aklan but it is known more for the participants’ impressive choreography and striking costumes that reflect the ingenuity, craftsmanship and artistry of the Ilonggos.
“Connecting Communities thru Culture and Faith” is the theme of the 2019 Dinagyang Festival.
Dinagyang is the Hiligaynon word for revelry or merrymaking./PN
