::: SINULOG 2004 - Pit Senyor! :::

SINULOG HISTORY

"Pit Senyor kang Mama kini, Pit Senyor kang Papa kini.." is the chant completing devotees' offering dance of Sinulog in honor of the miraculous Santo Niño.

A pageantry of faith, a festival held in honor of the Santo Nino, celebrating the origin of the island of Cebu--this is Sinulog.

Sinulog is a dance ritual in honor of the miraculous image of the Santo Niño. The dance moves two steps forward and one step backward to the sound of the drums. This movement resembles the current (Sulog) of what was known as Cebu's Pahina River. Thus, in Cebuano, it's Sinulog.

Historians say that Sinulog is the link between the country's pagan past and its Christian present.

Historical accounts say before Portuguese navigator came to Cebu on April 7, 1521 to plant the cross on its shore and claim the country for the King of Spain, Sinulog was already danced by the natives in honor of their wooden idols and anitos.

Then Magellan came and introduced Christianity. He gave the Santo Niño (image of the Child Jesus) as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Cebu's Rajah Humabon who was later named Queen Juana. At that time, not only the rulers were baptized but also about 800 of their subjects.

However, shortly after the conversion, Magellan died in an encounter with the reigning ruler of Mactan, Rajah Lapu-lapu, on April 27, 1521.

What remained of Magellan's men were able to return to Spain to report the incidentt. It took 44 years before a new group came and started formal Christianization of the islands. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565. His ships bombarded the village and in one of the burning huts, one of his soldiers named Juan Camus found inside a wooden box the image of the Santo Niño lying side by side with native idols.

Historians now say that during the 44 years between the coming of Magellan and Legaspi, the natives continued to dance the Sinulog. This time, however, they danced it no longer to worship their native idols but as a sign of reverence to the Santo Niño which is now enshrined at the San Agustin Church (renamed Basilica Minore del Santo Niño).

Through the years since 1521, the dance was a small ritual by a few in front of wooden idols or before the Santo Niño. In fact, at the Santo Niño church where the image is consecrated, only the candle vendors could be seen dancing the Sinulog and making offerings.

During the Santo Niño fiesta, which falls on the third Sunday of January, children dressed in moro-moro costumes also dance the Sinulog. This was really no big event for Cebu City.

In 1980, however, David S. Odilao, Jr., then Regional Director of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development (MYSD), organized the first ever Sinulog parade. He gathered a group of students, dressed them up, taught them how to dance the Sinulog to the beating of the drums. It was a small parade really which went just around the Basilica, but it caught the imagination of the City of Cebu, which then thought of making the Sinulog a festival that would rival all other festivals being held yearly in the country.

Thus, under the direction of then Cebu City Mayor Florentino S. Solon, the Sinulog organization came into being. The first task of the organizing committee was how to conceptualize the festival and make it a big event.

In 1980, the local government had a grand and lucrative idea. The Sinulog fiesta at the time was an affair of local color. Held at the Basilica del Santo Niño, the feast-featured sinulog dancing performed by various groups to fulfill religious obligations. On the third Sunday of January each year, besides the faithful who joined the Sinulog to fulfill a panaad, the event began to attract an increasing number of tourists.

The Cebu City government thus planned to expand the Santo Nino feast celebration and bring this small, regional event to national prominence. In addition, there was an interest in preserving and promoting sinulog dancing as an example of the " real and unique" Cebuano culture.

After the first year under the direction of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, the Sinulog parade Was turned over to the mayor's office which promptly exploited the commercial possibilities of the festival. Trade fairs, art exhibits, a film festival, and pop music events were added to the gravy train.

Sinulog '81 was then organized. Practically all sectors in the Cebuano community got involved. To distinguish the festival from the popular Ati-Atihan Festival in Aklan, the organizers decided to use the parade to depict the history of the Sinulog, which, as had been said, is the dance which links the country's pagan past and Christian present. Seven floats were created to depict seven different periods of history. Each float were followed by dancers wearing costumes depicting the periods.

They all danced the same beat the Sinulog parade started at 1 P.M. at the Cebu Provincial Capitol and ended about midnight at Fort San Pedro-Plaza Independencia area. And the show continued until the wee hours of the morning.

Sto. Niño origin

The origin of the Santo Niño is composed of three main stories. The most widespread version is that the image found by Legaspi's men in 1565, is the same image Magellan gave to Queen Juana in 1521.

The second version states that the image came from China. It supposedly found its way to the Philippines through Chinese traders who dealt with Franciscan missionaries.

The third version is the most interesting of all. It is rooted deeply in the folklore of Cebu. It is told that one day, long before the coming of the Spaniards, a native went out into the sea to fish. He did not catch anything for the better part of the day until finally, he felt a weight at the end of his line. He brought it in only to discover that it was nothing but a piece of wood. This occurred several times until, tired and angry, he decided to keep the stubborn piece of wood in his boat. And viola! Like magic, all the fish swum towards his boat and he went home with a bountiful catch.

The natives of Cebu soon discovered that this piece of wood had other magical powers. They could use it as a scarecrow to keep animals away from their dying crops. In times of drought, they only had to immerse it in the sea and the rains would come. Apparently, this same piece of wood was fashioned into the image of the Santo Niño.

Home Sweet Home?

The legend continues that long after the Spanish conquest, the King of Spain decided that the image of the Santo Niño be brought to Spain as a proof of its conquest of the islands.

The image was placed in a locked box placed in a locked metal casket and shipped to Spain, heavily guarded. Imagine the consternation of the King when the boxes were opened in his presence and revealed nothing!

The image had mysteriously disappeared and guess what! It reappeared miraculously the following day on the altar of San Agustin Church in Cebu!

The story goes on to say that another attempt was made to ship the image to Spain-this time in a third box locked inside two other boxes. Again the image was nowhere to be found when the boxes were opened in Spain. It had seemingly returned to the San Agustin Church by its own accord.

There were further attempts but each time, the image kept disappearing and reappearing in Cebu.

Mischievous Niño?

One version of the story says that the image was brought to Manila but it kept coming back to Cebu. Another version says it was brought to Vatican but not even the Pope himself could keep the Child from returning to his home in Cebu.

Still, another version relates that the exasperated priests amputated one of the Santo Niño's legs to prevent him from going back to Cebu. Some people point to the uneven stance of the Santo Niño as proof of this amputation.

home main page top