Why Cebuanos love the Santo Niño

 Looking pale and frail, the child of about one year stood next to the adobe wall of the church clutching his mother’s hand. Anxiety was in his face as he watched the crowd congregating at the large open space, singing a sacred song. An old woman was making curious movements in front of him, but he was oblivious to her until she approached him, gently lifted him up and held him close to her breast, then started stepping back and forth, back and forth, while shouting: “Pit Señor kang Undo kini!” repeating this several times in rhythmic fashion.

Sinuog! That woman was dancing the Sinuog, a prayer dance offered to the Sto. Niño to win favors from him. These could be a favor towards good health, or success in study or profit in business, or peace in the family – anything, in fact, relative to the attainment of a happy and prosperous life.

But why the dancing? Is it not better to say one’s prayer on bended knees or in a reverent posture? To be sure, Jesus once said that a prayer should be uttered in a secret place, away from the crowd, where only the prayer sayer and God are present. How then is the Sinuog justified?

For a Biblical basis for this practice one could cite the passage describing King David dancing with joy as the ark of the covenant was brought to Israel. Actually, dancing as a religious ritual is characteristic of primitive people. It could be that when the Sto. Niño icon was discovered in Cebu in 1575, the natives danced their ethnic dance by way of paying homage to it. Since then such practice has been carried out through the years until at present.

Is the Sinuog an effective prayer? It could be, otherwise it would not have endured. As children, our mother used to take us to the San Agustin church (a Basilica now) where after we lighted votive candles for the Holy Child, we were entrusted to Sinuog dancers, mostly old women, who did the dance for a fee. Our visit to the shrine, mother would tell us, was in fulfillment of a promise she had made every time we got sick. Like us thousands of other kids have been brought before the icon through the years and these too must have been blessed with good health by the Holy Child.

Good health is only one of the boons from the Santo Niño. There are many more, as many as the aspirations of the devotees who flock to the Basilica on feast day as well as every Friday of the year. Their petitions must have been granted, perhaps most of them, otherwise how explain the great multitude that pack like sardines every novena mass, and the hundreds of thousands who crowd the procession route as the holy icon makes its way in city streets?

Typhoons have been the terror in southern and northern Luzon. Dozens of these harass the Bicol region and parts of the eastern Visayas every year. But Cebu and nearby areas have been comparatively free of these disturbances. This year, for instance, more than two dozen systems swept across the country. But hardly any of these have impacted any serious damage to lives and properties in Cebu and other Visayan provinces. Ruping was a big howler that hit Cebu, but this was eighteen years ago. Surely, this area must have been protected by Almighty God, perhaps owing to the people’s intense devotion towards his son, the Holy Child.

Flash floods have swamped other places in the country but these have not been a problem here. Knee-deep water sometimes covers some city streets when there’s a heavy rain, but destructive torrents like the one that killed thousands in Ormoc city have never been observed here. Again, credit this, old folks say, to the protective arms of the Child Jesus. Talk of peace and order, and Cebu gets credit for being a quieter place compared to other areas. True, there are pockets of insurgency but these are tame and manageable. In the last two years, vigilante-style killings have been a concern, but even those have not upset people’s sense of security in these parts.

Cebu as the business hub in central Philippines? Cebu as a major tourist destination? Cebu as center of education and technology? These are incontestable realities which have made this province a phenomenal economic engine.

No wonder Cebu city has been marked as a city to watch in the future by an international body. Cebu indeed is a lucky place and Cebuanos are a lucky people. But more than luck is what is behind it all. And you know what (or who) it is.

It’s not surprising therefore that Cebuanos love the Santo Niño, who of course, loves them too.

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