Cebu archbishop urges Santo Niño devotees to pray for renewal

CEBU CITY:

(Pray for renewal, truth for all) Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said in his homily during the 6 a.m. Sinulog Pontifical Mass at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu church on Sunday.

“Before the Lord we should feel “small”, we have nothing to brag about,” Palma explained that the child Jesus was also “small.”

The archbishop also urged the Catholic faithful to pray for priests especially since 2018 is the Year of the Clergy of Consecrated Life. He also reminded the people to continue to be prayerful just like the late Cebuano Archbishop Teofilo Camomot who is a candidate for sainthood.

Peaceful

Meanwhile, Senior Supt. Renato Dugan, chief Police Community Relations Officer in Central Visayas, said no untoward incidents were reported, as of this writing on Sunday afternoon, and the crowd estimate was one million which is relatively similar to that in 2017.

Like last year, the Sinulog grand parade started in Barangay Carreta going to the Cebu City Sports Complex in Fuente Osmeñ a.

Dugan told that cellphone signals shutdown in specific routes of the Sinulog parade brought positive impact in terms of security measures especially on possible bombing incidents.

The National Telecommunications Commission turned off the signal in some cell sites of the Sinulog route between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. until further notice on Sunday.

Law enforcement augmentation from different towns and cities in Cebu was placed at 7,672 including members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.