Recalling our story
Cebu was on fiesta mode last week. People partied in clubs and in bars, and friends drank on the sidewalks. Or they went to Colon St. and enjoyed the sight of humanity, or went to the nearby Basilica del Sto. Niño.
I am not fond of crowds. I like looking at them from afar, but I don’t like being imprisoned in a cell of bodies. I want space. It is in this light that I admire the Sinulog crowd.
Before the Spaniards came to our shores, Sinulog, a ritual, had been danced by our ancestors in honor of their anitos or gods. In April 1521, Ferdinand Magellan presented the first Sto. Niño as a gift to Rajah Humabon’s wife, Raha Amihan, who after baptism danced the first Sinulog, with about 800 early converts, in honor of the Sto. Niño.
Today, the Sinulog festival is celebrated every January. It has become a spectacle of street-dancing, giant mascots, colorful floats and TV stars. Amidst all the pageantry and bonanza, it is and should be a celebration in honor of the Holy Child and a recollection of our story.
Regardless of religious beliefs, it’s good for us to remember what happened in 1521. Magellan not only planted a wooden cross on our island and gifted us with an image; he also gave us our first freedom fighter in Lapulapu, who killed him.
In 1565, the Spaniards, led by explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi returned and colonized our island. They burned our villages, and in one of the burnt houses, a soldier named Juan Camus found a wooden box containing the image of the Sto. Niño lying among other native statues.
Historians said that between 1521 and 1565, our ancestors continued to dance the Sinulog in honor of the Holy Child. It was for this image that Legazpi’s companions, the Augustinian friars, built a church on the site it had been found. The church is now known as the Basilica del Sto. Niño.
In every Sinulog, my wish is for us not only to enjoy the colorful floats and the festivities but also and more importantly to go back to the past and remember the story of our faith and our ancestors.--