Pandacan

PANDACAN GIANTS. The problem with setting a place apart as an important heritage zone is when commercial structures tower above monuments and ancestral houses making us forget their cultural value, and their legends isolated from the world. The Pandacan I knew was its view from the Nagtahan flyover as the petroleum city by the Pasig River.

A recent walking tour into this old Manila neighborhood revealed that beyond those huge oil storage tanks is a heritage district that was home to historical and cultural giants, Ladislao Bonus, Francisco Balagtas, Jacinto Zamora, pre-War ancestral houses, and the twin statues of the infant Jesus that are venerated in separate churches, both claiming the title as the Sto. Niño de Pandacan.

THE LITTLE VENICE OF MANILA. The barrio of Pandacan was named after the pandan plantation that thrived near the riverbank. Just like the scenes in the canals of Venice, residents of this farming village used slender wooden bancas as their means of transportation to get around town through the meandering esteros leading to the Pasig River. This earned Pandacan the sobriquet as the little Venice of Manila.

Originally a part of the Sampaloc District, Pandacan didn’t become an independent parish until 1712 when the bucolic village began building a permanent shrine for its Sto. Nino.

STO. NIÑO DE PANDACAN. Legend is told that when the wooden image of the Infant Jesus was recovered from a muddy pool where carabaos wallowed, the village elders brought it to its parish in Sampaloc. The strange thing was, it kept reappearing to the site where is was discovered. The Franciscan friar Francisco del Rosario built the first parish church in 1732 with the Sto. Nino enshrined in its main altar.

Generations of village folks attributed numerous miracles to their beloved icon. In the turbulent year of 1896, the Spanish authorities decreed Pandacan under the Juez de Cuchillo upon learning to be a hotbed of the revolution. On the day when the cannons were aimed to bomb the village, a child appeared floating above the artillery positioned in Nagtahan. The commanding officer pushed back the attack. Similar miracles took place in 1911 and 1941, when the village was spared from massive fires and World War II bombings. Another popular legend tells about a boy with curly hair and smeared with dirt on his face would be seen walking around the streets and the church patio. The people would offer him food because they believed that the boy was a manifestation of the Holy Child.

BULING-BULING FIESTA. January is the month the Sto. Niño throughout the country. In Pandacan, the third Sunday of January is a celebration of thanksgiving for the miracles of the Sto. Niño through a dance procession called the Buling-buling. During the fiesta, the villagers donned in their Sunday best to join the procession and families would set out their household image of the Sto. Niño in a makeshift altar right in front of their house. The first Buling-buling dance procession was held in the 1800 and lasted until World War II. It was revived in the 1970s and practiced until to this today.

The star of the Buling-Biling is the centuries-old image of the Holy Child carried on a silver carroza. Carved in dark wood similar to the Black Nazarene of Quiapo and the Black Madonna of Antipolo, it suggests that the statue must have also came from Mexico through the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade.

EBONY AND IVORY STO. NIÑO. Not too many people know that there is another image of the Sto. Niño in Pandacan. This image of the Holy Child was carved in ivory and was brought by the Franciscans to Pandacan in 1760. When the Iglesia Filipina Independiente or Aglipayan Church broke away from Vatican in 1902, revolutionary priests sequestered the parish church of Pandacan from the Franciscans until in 1906 when the Supreme Court ruled that all properties of the Catholic Church that were occupied by the Aglipayans had to be returned to their respective Archdiocese and friar orders.

The Aglipayan took with them the ivory image of the Sto. Niño and brought it into their church as an object of veneration. During the yearly Buling-Buling fiesta, the ivory Sto. Niño would join its ebony twin in the dance procession.

ROMUALDEZ HOUSE. Right across Pandacan Church is the Romualdez House. This well-preserve bahay-na-bato was built around the 1920s. It was home to Pandacan’s illustrious resident and Cabeza de Barangay, Daniel Romualdez. On the street level are the grilled windows and double doors guarded by lion statues, each holding a monogram. The family crest is etched on a plaque next to the main door.

The second floor has wide voladas or the cantilevered walkway that runs along the window side around the house. In the olden days, servants used the galeria volada to go from room to room while the main floor is exclusive for the masters of the house. Floral patterns punctured the eaves to serve as vents are also repeated in the volada. The second floor windows have metal canopies called media aguas that provide protective shade from sun and rain. The transoms above the windows have traceries that are traditionally called espejong calado.

PANDACAN ANCESTRAL HOUSES. Right next to the Romualdez House, is a charming post-war townhouse. The ground floor has a couple of stores and second floor can be accessed through stone stairs on the right. The capiz windows on the second floor is protected from the elements by metal awnings or media aguas that are decorated by tin cutouts on its edge. Its roof is topped by a spire. I wonder if that served as a lightning rod or for decorative purposes only. Compared to its next door neighbor, this house is rotting away.

Also along the same street is the Musser/Thelmo House. Also built around the 1920s, it is dominated by red fence from the street. Beyond the arched gate is the view of the balcony, supported by concrete Solomonica columns. In its hey day, it housed the sound studio and laboratory of the Manila Talkatone Studios that introduced the first talking pictures to the country. The house is familiar for it became in different occasions a movie set for local films and television series.

LADISLAO BONUS. Next to the Musser/Thelmo House is a historical marker to Ladislao Bonus. Born in Pandacan in June 27, 1854. Bonus was referred to as the Father of Philippine Opera for organizing an opera company compose entirely of Tagalog performers. He also organized the Marikina Orchestra, the Pasig Band, and the Arevalo Band that became the official band of the Revolutionary Government in Malolos. His famous musical scores were for the zarzuela, Sandugong Panaginip, Recuerdos a la Patria with lyrics by Jose Rizal, and the Triumphal March for the First Philippine Assemble.

To commemorate Pandacan’s homegrown musical genius, a historical marker was installed along the street, on the site of Bonus’ ancestral house. Above the bronze plaque is a low relief by classical sculptor Anastacio T. Caedo. Professor Caedo assisted National Artist Guillermo Tolentino in creating his iconic works such as the Monumento and the U.P. Oblation.

PLAZA JACINTO ZAMORA. Another historical giant from Pandacan was Padre Jacinto Zamora who was born on August 14, 1853 in a house along San Luis Street. Zamora was part of the Gomburza triumvirate, priests who were implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872.

As a student in San Juan de Letran, Zamora led a student protest in 1860 that resulted to being locked up in his quarters for two months but that did not affect his way into priesthood. He served the parishes of Marikina, Pasig and Lipa later became an examiner of new priest at the Manila Cathedral. He was finishing his doctorate in canon law at the University of Sto. Tomas when he was arrested and executed in Bagumbayan. The site of Zamora’s ancestral house was made into a plaza dedicated to the martyred priest.

FRANCISCO BALAGTAS. The poet Francisco Balagtas was born in Bigaa, Bulacan on August 2, 1788. He later change his name to Baltazar after the decree of Governor-General Narciso Claveria that all indios must use Spanish surnames. He worked as an errand boy to the Trinidad family in Tundo when he was 11. He finished his studies at the Colgeio de San Jose, a Jesuit school at age 24. He earned a living as a lyricist.

Balagtas migrated to Pandacan in 1835 where he fell in love with a local lass named Maria Asuncion Rivera. A rival have him imprisoned. In jail, he wrote his iconic Florante at Laura, which he dedicated to Celia using the initials M.A.R. The metrical romance, which had a full title as Pinagdaanang Buhay ni Florante at Laura sa Cahariang Albania – Quinuha sa Madlang Cuadro Historico or Pinturang Nagsasabing nang manga Nagyari nang Unang Panahon sa Imperyo ng Grecia – at Tinula ng Isang Matouain sa Versong Tagalog became a favorite of Jose Rizal who brought a copy with him while sailed away from Manila and Apolinario Mabini who transcribed the entire piece from memory years later to ensure its perpetuation as written literature. A plaza dedicated to the literary genius, Balagtas was built to honor the adopted son of Pandacan.

EPILOGUE: PANDACAN WALKING TOUR. Pandacan today is far from being Manila’s little Venice or how Balagtas has romanticized this riverine barrio in his poem.

A self-paced walking tour around Pandacan is not sightseeing but all about feeling, learning and remembering our cultural heritage and sharing them to the rest of the world.

– Feast of the Candelaria
02/02/2020

First United Building

ESCOLTA REVIVALIST. Pre-war Escolta reigns in the memory of those who were fascinated by its former grandeur. With the old glamour gone as the country’s premier high street, the Calle Escolta for this generation is a narrow street in Manila with Art Deco and Beaux Arts structures revitalized for adaptive reuse as cafés, restaurants, barbershops, art exhibition and creative co-working spaces, boutique hotels, craft stores and antique shops, graphic design studios, etc. etc.

The central hub for all this Escolta revivalist movement is First United Building, a 1928 Art Deco building guarding the entrance of this historic street.

ART DECO ASSEMBLAGE. Art Deco is an architectural style movement that became popular in 1920s Europe. It is characterized by streamlined surfaces, linear and geometric shapes, and odd combinations of design elements from different periods but still worked seamless and bear the impression of glamour. This assemblage of intricate design completes the backdrop of any 20th century Hollywood and Parisian film and that Swing Kids- and Great Gatsby-fashion.

In the Philippines, think of the bodabil (vaudeville), the jazz age of Katy dela Cruz and the Commonwealth era of Manuel Quezon, the iconic Metropolitan Theater in Liwasang Bonifacio, the FEU Campus in Quiapo, the Capitol Theater and the First United Building (FUB) in Escolta.

PEREZ-SAMANILLO BUILDING. While World War II destroyed most of the landmark structures in Manila, those that remain were demolished to give way to modern high rise structures without considering their historical importance and design heritage.

Formerly known as the Luis Perez-Samanillo Building, First United Building is one of the few surviving specimens of the Art Deco age in the country. Designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro, son of painter Juan Luna the five-floor building was considered a skyscraper of its time.

GRACEFUL ENTRANCE. Enter the building from Escolta street into the lobby through its filigreed wrought-iron doors. That graceful entrance are repeated in the moldings around the elevator doors and wrought iron handrail of the sinuous staircase.

On the elevator is a vintage floor indicator that recall the time when the First United Building was Manila’s foremost business address.

HISTORIC ADDRESSES. FUB prides itself for its maximized and tall wall space, abundant lighting and maximum cross-ventilation, large amount of architectural and decorative elements. It survived World War II and the bonfires of progress that decimated some of the  heritage structures in Manila.

In the 1930s, the consulates of Panama and France occupied Rooms 217 and 329. Various film production companies were housed in FUB because of its proximity to the movie theaters along Avenida Rizal. Room 514 was occupied by RVQ Productions of comedy king, Dolphy. Superstar Nora Aunor held office at Rooms 502 and 506. 80s matinee idol, Gabby Concepcion also held his production office in room 308.

FIRST CO-WORKING SPACE. These historic addresses have been converted for adaptive reuse by their new tenants into architectural and design firms, art exhibition and co-working spaces.

Dressed in that hipster vibe is the First Co-Working Space that has timeless views of Sta. Cruz Church, Roman Santos Building and the Beaux Arts Regina Building across, which was also designed by Luna de San Pedro.

FUB COMMUNITY MUSEUM. The building’s mezzanine houses the FUB Community Museum that tells the story of Mr. Sy Lian Teng through news clippings, photographs, and artifacts. Mr. Sy Lian Teng migrated to the Philippines from China in 1918. He grew his business and built a home for his family in Malate. But like most Malate families during the Liberation of Manila in 1945, his wife and children were murdered by the Japanese enemy. He remarried after the war and acquired the Luis Perez-Samanillo Building.

Also on exhibit, are artifacts from Berg’s Department Store that opened at the ground floor of the building in 1936. Dominating a corner in the museum is a portrait of Evelyn Berg Empie, daughter of store owner, Ernest Berg. 

HUB: MAKE LAB. The shell of the the pre-war Berg’s Department Store was converted into a bazaar and exhibition space for young creatives. Under the hanging sculpture of Leeroy New is a cluster of exhibition booths designed by Architect Arts Serrano. There is also Folk Barbershop, Fred’s Revolution pub and The Den Coffee and Contemporary Culture in their respective corners.

Good finds at HUB: Make Lab were the mugs with images of vintage cars and bicycles printed on them. This fittingly recalls when La Estrella del Norte in Escolta imported the first automobile in the country called a Richard, which was bought by a certain Dr. Miciano.

THE DEN. Whenever I end up my random walking trips around Manila in Escolta, The Den Coffee and Contemporary Culture has become by go to place. Aside from coffee and food, there are also small artworks that can be purchased from this coffee store. Have a good eye, one can snatch a good buy.

In my visit to FUB during the staging of the first Escolta Saturday Market in 2013, I was able to bring home artworks by Niel Pasilan, Leeroy New and Dexter Fernandez.

EPILOGUE: AN ASSEMBLAGE ART. Recently, I became fascinated in making assemblage art that I fashioned from vintage objects I sourced from places I’ve been to. These travel souvenirs were cramped in display cabinets at home until I decided put them together to create cohesive, maximalist, and storied artworks in box-type frames as extensions for my travel narratives.

The different happenings and gatherings in the First United Building make up an assemblage art that is timeless, huge, and out of the box.

A Cultural Tour of Metro Manila

FESTIVAL DAY.  An hour before sunrise, the palengke in Cubao and Divisoria begins to swell with early shoppers. The prayerful flocks inside the churches of Quiapo, Baclaran, and in the Sta. Clara Monastery in Quezon City. The rising sun lights up the preserved ruins of Intramuros and the elaborate façade of the Metropolitan Theater and the National Museum. In EDSA and Makati City, there is a choking traffic from the morning and afternoon rush hour and anarchy rules on the streets where sidewalk and roving vendors offer a wide-variety of street food from boiled and skewered bananas to santol and green mangoes with bagoong. There is a festival in front of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

From morning to sundown, Metro Manila is exploding with so many flavors and things artistic and cultural to experience so we asked artists, writers, and fellow travelers to provide us with a personalized cultural guide to our beloved national capital.

MANILA IN 24 HOURS. Famous for his contemporary rebulto on wood, Thirteen Artists Awardee and serial creative Riel Hilario provides this itinerary:

My 24 hours would start mid-morning at 10 AM. Breakfast in Intramuros area. San Agustin Church and its Museum, then its the Masters Hall at the National Museum. Lunch at the esteros of Binondo. Head out to Makati to the Pasong Tamo galleries. On to Ayala Museum and merienda at M Cafe. An easy walkabout in BGC. Head south to Conrad Hotel for some drinks. Sunset watching at the Bay. Perhaps a gala show at the CCP. So end the night there or back in Makati. Next morning, breakfast in Greenhills. Some galleries in the area. Exit Manila before lunchtime.

MANILA’S MERRY MIXES. Food historian and award-winning writer, Felice Prudente-Sta. Maria shares:

Sample folk food. Some names may sound Spanish or Mexican but the dishes have a Filipino heart and soul: tamales made with coconut milk; adobo cooked in palm or sugarcane vinegar; sourish and brothy sinigang; the savory, boiled, meal-in-a-pot pochero with native banana, cabbages, sweet potatoes and a flavor-layered eggplant relish; kare-kare oxtail stew with subtleties from peanut and annato. Don’t pass up a morning cup of thick chocolateh served with a sopas ranging from budbud or suman (finger shaped rice or millet with coconut milk and wrapped in palm or banana leaves), buttery ensaymada, or biscuits baked in a wood-fired oven. And don’t miss afternoon merienda with its array of baked goods ranging from street breads to fancy egg yolk-rich yema puddings.  Halo-halo, mix mix, a symphony of syrupy fruits, beans, custard and ice cream to which have been added textural punctuations like pounded and puffed rice called pinipig. Philippine rum and brandy are internationally acclaimed. Liqueurs from island citruses dayap, dalandan, and kalamansi and tuba wine from coconut palm stamp island happiness on the tastebuds forever.

A DOSE OF CULTURE. Staunch heritage advocate and the man behind FEU’s vibrant student concert performances, Martin Lopez recommends:

Start and end your day at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Build up your appetite by following the joggers around the CCP including up and down the main driveway. Cool off and have breakfast at Pancake House in Harbour Square across the CCP Little Theater. Return to the CCP to see what is on exhibit. Then, cross Roxas Boulevard and head to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and spend a couple hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. You can have lunch there. If you can still take in one more museum, spend the afternoon in the National Museum of Anthropology or the National Gallery of Art. Alternatively, you can spend your afternoon walking the cobble stoned streets of Intramuros. Catch the sunset from the roof deck of the Bay Leaf Hotel. You can have cocktails and dinner there. Finally, return to the CCP for a performance in one of its halls.

MANILA I’M COMING HOME. Artist, writer and editor of the iconic 10-volume Filipino Heritage, Alfredo Roces regularly flies from Sydney to Manila to attend art shows and meet fellow artists shares: 

Last time I was in Manila we did a quick tour of museums. As we were in Urdaneta Village we started with Ayala, then the CCP, then the Met and then the National Museum. That was interesting. I would say try to add Intramuros, Fort Santiago-San Agustin Church. Catch some current events. We saw the Artfair and an art auction. Divisoria is interesting.

EPILOGUE: MANILA SUNSET. So there, a personalized cultural guide to Metro Manila from our country’s art and culture authorities. So find some time to explore our national capital until sundown and watch how the tropical sun paints the city with that unrivaled incandescent golden glow that makes us sing:

Hinahanap hanap kita Manila
Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga
Mga jeepney mong nagliliparan
Mga babae mong naggagandahan
Take me back in your arms Manila
And promise me you’ll never let go
Promise me you’ll never let go
Manila, Manila
Miss you like hell, Manila
No place in the world like Manila
(Manila by Hotdogs)

Ermita

ERMITANEO. While walking along Mabini Street under the glaring mid-morning sun, a street-side vendor selling yosi, candies, bottled water, along with excavated Asian ceramics, rusty Maranao kris, and ethnic Kalinga necklaces invited me to check out his merchandise. Welcome to Ermita’s antique district.

Antiques, tribal artifacts, and folk art are beautiful objects with intrinsic and historical value. They give hints at our culture and can inspire a feeling of connection to the different periods in our history. They are expensive providers of inspiration. That is why I visit antique stores in Ermita mostly to satisfy my visual cravings for our ancestral heritage more than to shop.

NUESTRA SEÑORA DE GUIA. I usually start my walks around this district in its Church that houses the oldest antique statuette of the Virgin Mary in the country. When the Spanish arrived in the seaside village of Lagyo, the old name of Ermita, the natives were found venerating a wooden icon set atop a clump of pandan plant. Its head and shoulders were carved from narra and body from molave with fading swirls of blue, red, and gold. The men sent by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi were quick in convincing the villagers that the image of the Nuestra Señora de Guia was brought by angels.

A chapel was built not far from where the image was found. This same chapel went through several reconstructions and expansions on the same site along Del Pilar Street. High on the main altar of the present Ermita Church is the original antique icon now glowing in golden robes, bedecked with jewels, curly wig and crown, and holding a baston de mando that was presented to the image by a galleon commander for saving his ship from a storm upon the invocation of Ermita’s titular patroness. The original provenance and how the image of the Nuestra Señora de Guia ended up in the beach in Ermita centuries ago remains a mystery.

REPRO AND ORIG. The priced items in Ermita stores are the rare santos, colonial jewelry like the tambourine, excavated pottery and ceramics, tribal artifacts that were used in rituals like the bulol, old wood furniture like a mesa altar from Baliwag, a galinera from Batangas and a lamesa from Bohol.

They are sold side-by-side with copycat versions.  A seasoned antique hunter can easily spot a well-made reproduction from an authentic piece inside a crowded antique store at a glance or at close inspection.

GALLERY DEUS. Antique dealers and their reliable
storekeepers are good mentors on how to spot a repro versus an authentic piece. Multi-awarded playwright Floy Quintos is always an exciting company at Gallery Deus. His store at the Faura Center specializes in antique santos and tribal art.

In one of my visits, he sends me an Ifugao spoon with a polished patina that according to Floy cannot be copied not even by the best fakers. But more to the patina and encrustation on the surface of an object, the intangible spirit of an antique santo or an old bulol cannot be captured in a fake.

SPOT THE REAL ONES. Housed in the stately pre-war Casa Tesoro is Maria Closa, an antique store that specializes in tribal artifacts from the Cordilleras. This antique store is airy, filled with light, and well-curated enough that it can be mistaken for a museum. On pedestals are darken Kalinga jars next to massively heavy kinabigat. There is a display shelf of bulols in different age and sizes and a table lined with ritual boxes, spoons, and plates, and Ifugao baskets.

To train the eye and instinct to spot real antiques and tribal art, Gallery Deus and Maria Closa are the stores to visit when in Ermita.

HUNTING FOR ANTING-ANTING. I was drawn to the impressive collection of anting-anting from a storekeeper. All were once charged, meaning their previous owners used them for their supernatural powers. In the collection were the 2-inch Santo Niño carved in ivory, one is secured in a silver reliquario. There were booklets of incantations used for charging the amulets.

There are also those types that are made of brass carved with early religious symbols and Latin texts. Cheaper variations of these brass medallions are sold in Quiapo. My favourite is the anting-anting drawing on cloth.

MABINI STREET. Close to the antique stores are art stores that sell framed paintings on canvas depicting folk and rural scenes bursting with tropical colors. This has become the character of the Mabini Art Movement, a genre in Philippine paintings that took its name from Mabini Street. In one of my recent walks, I took a photo of a group of artworks sunning at a corner along Mabini. It reminded me of artist friend Jose Yap Baguio who spent painting his last works under the lamp post near Ermita Church.

It was also on Mabini Street in 1966 where Paul McCartney with his group the Beatles chose to spend the afternoon as tourists after ignoring the invitation of the Marcoses in Malacanang. In one of the art stores along Mabini, McCartney bought a painting by Ben Cabrera for 70 pesos!

EPILOGUE: UNUSUAL BREAK IN 1973. On my way to Mabini Street one morning for my usual rounds of antique window shopping, I dropped by Solidaridad hoping to catch National Artist for Literature F Sionil Jose. He wasn’t in the bookstore but read about this short narrative entitled Memento of Martial Law. Framed with a Sheafer fountain pen, it tells about an unusual break in that took place in bookstore a year after the declaration of Martial Law.

Visiting stores in Ermita is a delightful way to learn our culture and our historic past.

Pista ng Santo Niño at San Beda

RED IS OUR COLOR. Current and former students of San Beda College know that red is our color and the last Sunday of January is the Pista ng Santo Niño.

It has been a tradition that only at this time of year that the image of the Santo Niño de Praga is taken down from its niche high in the main altar of the Abbey of Our Lady of Monserrat in Mendiola. Devotees form a long line to have the chance to touch and kiss the carved image of the Holy Child before it is mounted to its silver carroza for a solemn procession around the San Miguel district of Manila.

STO. NIÑO DE PRAGA. Not too many people know that during the first Pista ng Sto. Niño in 1904, a framed picture of the Holy Child was taken to the procession in lieu of a carved statue. The exquisitely carved statue of the Santo Niño de Praga that we see today was commissioned by famous santero Máximo Vicente for the Benedictines of Mendiola.

The cult of the Holy Child in the country began four centuries ago.  The image of the Sto. Niño that arrived in the Philippines with Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, that was recovered  and re-enthroned by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and enshirned today in the minor basilica in Cebu is the oldest Christian image in the country. The Sto. Niño de Cebu is believed to have been carved in Flanders in the 15th of century and was presented as a baptismal gift to the converted Queen Juana.

FIRST PISTA NG STO. NIÑO. The Benedictine monks began to spread the devotion to the Santo Niño de Praga in the Philippines only during the last turn-of- the-century. Its first devotees were the students from the Colegio de San Beda who establish the Confraternity of the Infant Jesus. The traditional procession of the Sto. Niño with the image made by Maximo Vicente as the focus of devotion was first held in January 20, 1905.

The solemn tradition lives on today with devotees forming a long line under the magnificent murals and paintings of the abbey. It is a moving scene to witness how the young and old have a quick moment to touch, kiss and say a prayer to the Santo Niño before it is taken to the procession.

EL CAPITAN GENERAL DE LAS ISLAS. With the peeling of the church bells, the Santo Niño is brought to the silver carroza waiting by the church entrance. A huge crowd in red clothes cheers as the carroza bearing the Santo Niño is pulled and joins the procession.

Red is the color of San Beda College since its students are traditionally known as Red Lions. If this passionate and heroic color has any connection to the Santo Niño, it must be that red symbolizes the color of the General. Remember that when the Santo Niño was introduced in Cebu, he was given the title as El Capitan General.

SOLEMN PROCESSION. While most Sto. Niño festivals around the country are known for the mardi gras-type of parade, the Santo Niño procession led by the Benedictine community and San Beda College students and alumni is simple and sober. Joining the Santo Niño de Praga in the procession are images of Benedictine saints like St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Bede or popularly known as Venerable Bede and the patroness of the abbey, Our Lady of Monserrat.

EPILOGUE. As the procession inched its way around the San Miguel district, participants recite the rosary or exchange pleasantries as this event is also a reunion among the alumni of the college.  It is an important event that proud Bedans look forward to for us reconnect with our  brothers and reflect on the values that we’ve learned in school.