Pit Senyor, Cebu!

Cebu has now shifted gear and moved from a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year mood to the Sinulog mood. The Sinulog buntings are clearly visible along the route of the parade, and soon we will be hearing the beating of the drums as the participants of the Sinulog parade prepare for the biggest of all fiestas ...the feastday of our beloved Señor Santo Niño! For our first time Sinulog guests, most especially the foreign tourists who have travelled thousands of miles to witness this pageantry, this celebration is to honor the feastday of the Child Jesus, whose image was given by the Spanish conquistador Ferdinand Magellan ( who was really Portuguese) to our Queen Juana as a gift during her baptism after she converted to Christianity.

Many stories have been told about this miraculous image, that Filipinos far and wide, visit the image which is housed at the Basilica del Sto. Niño whenever they are in Cebu. My own faith in the Santo Niño was strengthened when I witnessed a miracle of the Santo Niño in the 1980's. I witnessed it with 3 of my children who were with me at the time. This image is believed to disappear from its glass encasement at the Basilica , only to reappear later with amor seco seeds sticking to His cloak. Whether this tale is true or not, the devotion to Santo Niño has grown. Originally, women with candles in their hands dance to the Sinulog beat to ask for healing, solutions to financial problems and many others. This tradition has been going on for ages, so much so that the dance interpretation of the Sinulog parade dancers are patterned after this movement. As I watch the preparations for this special event take shape, I cannot help but wonder if we have done enough to make Cebu ready for the expected number of tourists who will be coming to our shores. Are our roads well paved? Are our hotels, our airports, our transportation facilities, our restaurants ready? Are we, the people of Cebu, ready with our own surroundings which should be spotlessly clean?

Are we ready with our smile, our helpful and friendly attitude and our Cebuano hospitality towards our guests? Are we prepared to lend a helping hand to someone in need? Are our police officers ready to keep the peace and order of the city and its environs? In short, we cannot be just fencesitters. We must each do our share to make Cebu the premier destination in the Philippines and in the whole of Asia, at least, within the next 10 years. My work as a travel agent and tour organizer has enabled me to travel to many places and I have seen the richness and the grandeur of the Greek and the Roman Empire...or what's left of it. I have gone through the ruins that have been excavated for the present generation to have a glimpse of the glory of the past. We may not have the ruins to speak of, but we have the natural beauty of land and sea, the warmth of the Filipino people and the resiliency of the Filipino spirit. What more can anyone ask? A foreigner once asked me which of the places that I have visited is the best one of all. My answer was quick.... the Philippines! Despite its imperfections, the Philippines is still my island paradise, a place that I can come home to and rest.