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CEBU — After two years, the Cebuano devotion was seen back on the streets as the solemn foot procession for the feast of the Santo Niño De Cebu or Senyor Santo Niño was held Saturday afternoon.

Devotees were unbothered by the 5.7 kilometer route that stretched from the Basilica Minore Del Santo Niño, to the downtown streets of the city such as Osmeña Boulevard, General Maxilom Avenue and Imus street.

According to the Cebu City Police Office, over 3 million people joined the procession, which lasted for about three to four hours.

“Maybe because it is the first time to have another Fiesta Señor, since in the past years we did not have it,” said Dalogdog in a press interview, pertaining to the hiatus brought by the pandemic.

“It was generally peaceful. We deployed 1,510 PNP personnel and we have augmentation such as volunteers, students that reached over 10,000 to control the crowd,” added Dalogdog.

The police have yet to give an update if there were any untoward incident. Based on initial situation reports, there were only minor ones such as a lost child, among others.

After the foot procession, a solemn pontifical “visperas” mass proceeded which was presided by Auxiliary Bishop Ruben Labajo.

Some devotees were not able to get in and had to stand in the streets surrounding the basilica.

Good weather permitted all activities to run smoothly, even if rains threatened the days prior.

“All went good as planned. We already saw all these during the dry run. This is the blessing of the Holy Child,” said Rev. Fr. Ion Miranda of the Santo Niño Basilica.

At 4 a.m., a Mañanita mass was celebrated followed by another solemn pontifical mass presided by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.

The Sinulog 2023 meanwhile commenced Sunday, 9 a.m. at its new venue, the South Road Properties.

• Quezon City faithful honor Santo Niño in grand procession

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