Felmar’s World of Anecdotes

"Pit Señor!"

As I write this blog today, many Filipinos around the globe and (for sure) other nationalities as well, join our Cebuano kababayans in their traditional shout "pit señor!" in honor of the Sto. Niño.

The devotion to the Sto. Nino has three focals points: (1)Incarnation, (2)The Christianization of the Philippines, and (3) "Becoming a child" spirituality.

Wait…! I will not be talking about the rich theological resources behind the image of the Child Jesus here. I will be talking about my most memorable Sinulog ever.

So, I begin my story…

Not many people know that I was a Sinulog dancer. Well, not in Cebu but let’s just say that I danced Sinulog for three consecutive years (every third sunday of January).

My first two breaks at Sinulog was in Christ the King Chapel (now Shrine of the Divine Word). I first danced Sinulog the day after Gloria Arroyo took her oath as President of the Philippines via Edsa Dos. That was January 21, 2001. I remembered that day very well. We were asked to dance in all masses - ten all of them! After one performance, a certain Chinese family gave us a plastic bag containing food. Ah, we grab it like hungry lions. After all, we deserved our wage!

The following year, one memory stands out: Fr. Arlo Yap, SVD asked us not to dance before the entrance hymn. He asked us to dance in the middle of his homily (read: creative homily). Wais talaga si Fr. Arlo! Michael V and Kris Aquino were there and my companions bullied Joshua until he cried!

But my most memorable Sinulog ever was in Postulancy Tagaytay. This time, I was the one priviledged to carry the Sto. Niño. We had our Sinulog in the SVD Road with only my classmates and two formators as participants. It was a very intimate moment for us.

The Sto. Niño image was only borrowed from the Scholastics. In fact, Fr. Nic Sengson, SVD was hesitant to allow us to borrow it. But thank God, there was divine intervention and he allowed us on the last minute.

But, I had a problem with the Sto. Niño. The feet of the baby Jesus was no longer properly joined to the main base. So I had to hold both the image and the base.

While on procession, my classmate Tom (not his real name) asked me if he could also hold the image and lead us in dancing. I gladly handed him the image but I forgot to warn him about my problem with the Sto. Niño.

…and the unexpected thing happened!

While all of us were cheering "Pit Señor!", the baby Jesus suddenly vanished from Tom’s hands. No, it was not a miracle. The Sto. Niño fell into the ground. The nail attached to the main base and the image finally wore off.

And we ended up dancing the Sinulog holding the Sto. Niño’s feet!

Happy New Year!

I spent my New Year in an extremely different way! I intentionally booked a flight from Davao to Manila on the 31^st of December. No, it was not only on the fact it was the last day of the year 2006.

I booked it on the last flight of Cebu Pacific since I wanted to have a New Year experience up on the plane and down in the streets of the metropolis. It was scheduled 9:30 in the evening and the estimated time of arrival was 11:15, just in time for the start of the loud cheers in the streets and the colorful displays in the skies of Manila.

Whew! It turned out to be more extreme than I ever expected. I just thought that I would be seeing fireworks and hearing “paputok” since the latter was a total ban in my Davao hometown (thank God, we have no casualty in Davao every New Year!).

While on the plane, I was seated on the window side. Oh my God, the Philippine islands looked like a wonderful constellation sparkling in the vast, vast universe. For the first time in my whole life, Manila looked so beautiful up on the plane. The fireworks were sights to behold deserving of a standing ovation (clap! clap! clap!). They were like playful comets rushing to and fro to my delight. Spectacular!

Fortunately, we landed safely in the domestic airport. There was no taxi, so we were forced to ride a jeepney that only took us to the last station of the LRT in Baclaran. Here, the most unforgettable New Year happened to me.

From the Baclaran LRT station, we passengers-experiencing-jet-lag walked our way to the Taft MRT station. While on the way, I looked at my watch and it was already 11:59 pm. I heard the people shouting “Happy New Year!!!” I greeted myself “Happy New Year.”  Then, blasting all over filled the air.

I was rattled since a “triangle” blew up the garbage on the street. I saw that even cockroaches ran for their lives!!!

It was very frightening to make a step since too many people were on the streets and they were all enjoying blowing fireworks and firecrackers almost simultaneously. There was confetti of the Judas’ Belt, which lasted almost twenty minutes. Gosh, I felt like an action star walking like a brave warrior with blastings left and right.

Thank God, I survived the New Year adventure! I reached MRT-Taft safe and sound. A taxi driver picked me up and I sighed, “Ah, it was indeed a Happy New Year!!!”

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR GIFTS, YOUR INSPIRING TEXT MESSAGES AND  YOUR PRAYERS DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON…

REST ASSURED YOU ARE INCLUDED IN MY PRAYERS…MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

YOURS IN THE DIVINE WORD (WWW),

fiel, svd