The 2014 Procession of the Black Nazarene in Cagayan de Oro

January 9, 2014, was the feast of the Black Nazarene. One of the activities for the occasion was a procession. Although it looked like rain, many devotees gathered at the road where the procession of the Black Nazarene would start. At about 3 pm as the carriage of the Black Nazarene was brought on the highway, police neophytes locked arms around it to prevent people from jostling into the Black Nazarene. There were police officers, village police and traffic administrators who accompanied the procession so that it would progress orderly and safely.  

There were already a large number of people who followed the Black Nazarene at the starting point of the procession. The mass of people swelled as other devotees who were waiting along the road for the carriage to pass by joined those who had already followed it. In the main thoroughfares the number of devotees increased even more so that it was difficult for one to get past other people in the midst of the multitude. The size of the crowd was overwhelming.   

                                                                                        

In the course of the procession, some devotees shouted “Viva Señor Jesus Nazareno”. Others were praying the rosary, and still others tossed small towels into the carriage. Towels were caught by the escorts by the hands and wiped them on the sculpture.  The escorts then tossed back the towels to their owners. Devotees believe that towels or other objects that are rubbed on the Black Nazarene would have healing or miraculous powers.    

                                                                      

It seemed that the weather cooperated with the devotees throughout the procession. The sky was cloudy when the procession was about to start. However, it never rained in the afternoon or in the evening and even until the procession reached and ended at the Jesus of Nazareth Parish Church at about 7 pm. 

In Cagayan de Oro it was estimated that the number of people who attended or witnessed the procession was about 100,000. This is a very small number compared to that of Manila whose number of attendance to the similar procession was estimated at about 3 million people.  

The number of people who voluntarily attended the religious procession is an indication of the strong devotion to the Roman Catholic faith by many Filipinos. Despite the challenges faced by the church, many Catholics remain loyal to their faith for good reasons. Roman Catholicism is one of the oldest and original Christian Churches that is founded by Saint Peter himself who was an apostle of Jesus Christ. 

Cagayan de Oro Fiesta 2013

“Viva Señor San Agustin!” is a greeting in Cagayan de Oro for the feast day of Saint Augustine every August 28. Today’s fiesta is the culmination of the activities of the Kagay-an Festival 2013 that included Kumbira, garden shows, PBA legends basketball game, marathon, cowboy fest, beauty pageant, fireworks displays, P.E. rhythmic dance, Higalas Parade of Icons, among others. The activities of the Kagay-an festival concludes today with a religious procession which includes a fluvial parade on Cagayan River.                                                                 

Fiesta and the holding of related activities have become the tradition of the people of the city.  It is a Roman Catholic tradition that is inherited from the Spaniards who celebrate a village or a town saint’s day with a banquet. Since every barangay in the city has its own patron saint, there are many fiestas that are held in the city. But the one that takes the center stage is the feast day of Saint Augustine because he is the patron saint of the city proper. Usually, it is only the people of that area who give banquet on Saint Augustine’s day, but the fiesta and the Kagay-an Festival are considered as the events for most people of Cagayan de Oro.  Other people though because of religious belief do not celebrate the fiesta.

Other than being parts of the tradition of the Cagayanons, the Kagay-an Festival and the fiesta are also an instrument to showcase the city to people from other places and the rest of the world that it is a good destination for tourism and investment in the Philippines. The people of the city have just felt the negative impact of the bombing at the Lim Ket Kai Center on July 26, 2013. In spite of it, people from all walks of life, in a show of solidarity, have worked hand in hand so that the city can get back on its feet. This year’s fiesta is celebrated under the new administration of Mayor Oscar Moreno. With him the Cagayanons hope that the coming years will bring in more economic progress and improved peace and order situation to the city.

Pictures of the fluvial procession:

Pictures of Miss Amadea Lucia Piatti Miss CDO 2013 and the runner ups of the beauty pageant

Miss Amadea Piatti, (second from left), Miss CDO 2013

Pictures related to Kagay-an Festival 2013

Saint Augustine Cathedral

The Passage of RH Bill: Has the Catholic Church Become Irrelevant?

Pres. Benigno Aquino III

The Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives passed the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill on third and final reading in the evening of December 17, 2012. A joint senate and house bicameral committee will reconcile their respective versions of the bill, and it becomes a law after President Benigno Aquino III signs it.

The passage of the bill is hoped to usher a better future for Filipino families and put into rest one of the most contentious issues that has divided the Filipinos. Introduced in 1995, the bill has been languishing in congress for 13 years because lawmakers feared of a Catholic backlash. The Catholic Church has been campaigning for its passage and reaching out to its faithful to oppose it.

Proponents of the RH bill said it contains provisions that are pro-life, pro- women and anti-poverty that will provide Filipinos sexual education, maternal care and access to modern methods of family planning with government support.                                                                                                           

For his support of the RH Bill, President Benigno Aquino III has been the object of criticism especially from the Catholic Church which views the bill as anti-life and immoral because the use of contraception kills a fertilize egg which the church considers as a human life. But Aquino said that family planning will not be forced on the couples who do not want it. Family planning and spacing of children will be a matter of couples’ own choice. However, those couples who seek support in connection with family planning will be helped by government such as giving them free contraceptives.   

Those people who are against the RH bill attributed its passage on the endorsement of the president and his certification that the bill is urgent. Many Filipinos including the Roman Catholics view the bill as a necessity whose time has come. They see the burgeoning population of the Philippines, the 39^th most populated country on earth and the lack of appropriate measure on family planning as hindrance to the country’s economic progress.                   

The voting of the RH Bill by the lawmakers is indicative of the thinking and sentiment of many Filipinos on the issue. And they are not one with the church on it. Overpopulation, poverty, ignorance and women’s and child care are matters that cannot be addressed by the Catholic Church’s emphasis on the moral and spiritual dimension of the issue alone. Sexual education of couples, access to modern method of family planning and government support can help couples raise a family that is within their means to support its basic needs such as the education of their children.

The passage of the bill however, is not a rejection of the Catholic Church by its faithful. Although it failed to get the support of the majority of the lawmakers to support the bill, the Catholic Church and its leaders are still treated with high respect by some people including those who voted in favor of the RH Bill. For them, the church is just doing what it is supposed to do.                                                                                                                                                                       

Filipinos still look up to the Catholic Church as one of their vanguards against government abuses and corruption and in other matters where spiritual and moral issues on government policies are involved. Despite the criticism leveled against it, the Catholic Church has been instrumental in the ouster of past presidents who were perceived to be tyrant and corrupt. The church is also a consistent advocate for free and honest election and the defender of the rights of the poor. It is a fact that the church and its leadership have contributed to the good of the society. The late Jaime Cardinal Sin was at the forefront of leading the people against what he saw was the excesses of the Marcos regime. He was actively visible and vocal in his crusade against the administration of Marcos.  To his credit Cardinal Sin never interfered in the people’s right of suffrage. He never told his followers who to vote for during election.                                                                                                             

Although Catholics are always respectful to their church and its leaders, there are instances when their views run in conflict with the desire of their priest and bishops. A case in point is the call of some Catholic groups for a “Catholic vote” in the coming May 2013 election to penalize those lawmakers who voted for the RH Bill. In most likelihood such a move will not be heeded by most Catholics because they will most probably vote for those politicians whom they believe as the most deserving to put their trust on regardless whether they voted for or against the RH bill.