Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has attributed to the Santo Niño, or Infant Jesus Christ, all the blessings that Manila and its citizens have been receiving, as the local chief executive joined the two-day celebrations of the patron’s feast in the city this weekend.
The feast is celebrated on the third Sunday of January, although related activities are held as early as Saturday. The focus of the festivities is in Tondo and Pandacan.
The celebration in Tondo is highlighted by the “Lakbayaw (Lakbay-Sayaw)” and in Pandacan by the “Buling-Buling” street dancing festival where participants come in their best attire.
“We want to thank the Santo Niño for his continued guidance to our community and to our city, in order that all of us would be unified and have joint efforts to help our fellow citizens, especially the poor,” Estrada said in a message he delivered during the Buling-Buling festival in Pandacan last Saturday.
Among those “blessings,” he pointed out, was the peaceful Black Nazarene procession last week where no one was seriously injured, the completion of multimillion-peso infrastructure projects in the city such as hospital modernization, and the continuous economic progress of the city.
As Manila’s mayor, Estrada said it has been his vision to bring back the city’s old glory, as historians once called it the “Pearl of the Orient.”
The Manila Police District deployed 987 policemen for the two-day Sto. Niño Feast, MPD Station 2 chief Supt. Arnold Thomas Ibay said.
Days before the festivities, Ibay said they conducted anti-criminality operations in affected areas.
“We’re supported by private volunteer groups and NGOs, and, of course, the concerned barangays,” he said.
MPD Station 10 also provided back-up, especially in the Buling-Buling festival in Pandacan, Ibay added.