Santo Niño de Cebú is a Roman Catholic image of the Child Jesus. For centuries, Santo Niño served as Cebu’s patron. Regarded as deity, the statuette was cloth in kingly robes, completed with precious stones and other gold ornaments including the crown.

The figurine is considered as the oldest and most revered religious relic in the Philippines. It took its sanctuary in the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, one of the oldest churches in the country.

The province of Cebu celebrates Sinulog in honor of the Holy Child of Cebu. It has become the most important celebration as it commemorates how Catholicism was first promulgated in Cebu.

History

The Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan who worked for Spain and its king, Charles I started his expedition for the Spice Island. However, on his voyage, he arrived in Cebu in 1521 and befriended Rajah Humabon and his men.

Magellan was able to covert Rajah Humabon, his wife, Hara Amihan and their men from paganism to the Catholic faith. During the baptism, the king was christened Carlos and the queen, Juana.

After making Cebu an alliance to Spain, Magellan gifted Queen Juana the image of Santo Niño. Before Magellan was killed in Mactan, he happened to have a procession of the image which believed to be crafted from Holland in the 16th century.

Regarded as a powerful deity, it was called as Capital General in the colonial period. Whenever taken out from the church for procession, it is honored with a 21-gun salute. On the other hand, it also represents a playful and innocent child who “disappears” and plays with the peasants and fishermen. Up to this present day, it is invoked by many for its miraculous attributes.

After Magellan’s death, Santo Niño became a native pagan idol. Though natives tried to destroy the image, it never been vanished from the land. Eventually accepted, Santo Niño became part of the land, part of the culture and definitely, part of the history.

After 44 years since Magellan’s death, the expedition was re-launched under the rule of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. In 1565, he and his men arrived in Cebu. Thinking that the Spaniards were back to avenge the death of Magellan, a war broke out between Spanish army and Rajah Tupas’ men.

Because of the advance artillery of the Spanish, Cebu was once more conquered. Legaspi occupied and set the village ablaze. Inside one of the burnt huts, one of Legaspi’s soldiers Juan Camus found a wooden box containing the image of Santo Niño intact and free from burnt scratches.

For 44 unaccounted years, the presence of the Holy Child is very crucial for the Cebuanos. That is why, when asked about the origin of the image, a locals refused its linkage to the Magellan’s gift.

The natives’ version of its origin is about “Agipo” or driftwood.

Accordingly, since time immemorial, the driftwood was caught in the fishhook of the fisherman. Despite his effort to dispose the wood, it reappeared again and again until he decided keep the wood with him.

Behold, the catch that day was so plentiful for a single fisherman to hold. It was then decided to put the agipo in the settlement so as to expose its powers to the people. Since then, it guarded the people’s harvest and protect them from pestilence.

The incident was acknowledged as miraculous and in reverence, the church was built in the exact place. From St. Augustine Church, it evolved into a Basilica Minore del Santo Niño where the Santo Niño was placed.

Manila was also discovered by Legaspi and from Cebu, the capital was then transferred to Manila. The authorities then ordered that the image of Santo Niño will also be moved to the new capital.

The image was crated and was shipped to Manila but arrived there empty. For three times, the image always disappeared and found back in its original shrine. Eventually, the image was boxed and placed seventh and the inner most box of a series of Chinese boxes. The shippers succeeded in delivering the image and it was placed in the Augustinian Church in Manila. However, it kept on disappearing from the church and reappeared in the shrine in Cebu.

It is then understood that Santo Niño wants to live in Cebu and housed in the side altar of the Basilica. Many miracles are addressed to the Holy Child. One example is the bomb that fell in the church where the Santo Niño was during the World War II. The church was damaged but the image managed to remain unscathed and hanging near the corner.

According to the research, the image of Santo Niño in Cebu was the original one and was adorned with precious stones and gems. Only replicas were used for processions to ensure the safety of this antiquity.

The See of Rome approved the appeal of using special liturgical texts during the Feast of Santo Niño in the Philippines. The fiesta celebration took place every third Sunday of January and the festival is known as Sinulog.

For centuries, Santo Niño was the patron saint of Cebu province. However, it is very obvious that Santo Niño is a representation of the Child Jesus and Jesus is not a saint. In 2002, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the Archbishop of Cebu declared Our Lady of Guadalupe was the official patron saint of Cebu.

Many Santo Niño followers were upset upon hearing the decision, having the feeling that the Holy Child was demoted. But a patron saint should be a human saint to intercede to God in behalf of the people, rather than the Divine praying for Himself.
Since Jesus is God and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, He cannot be deemed as a patron. But it doesn’t mean that the feast and the traditional Sinulog celebration is to be abolished.

Many faithful are attracted to the Holy Child as it represents humility. From Queen Juana to officials, parents and even school kids are drawn to its devotion. Millions of pilgrims all over the country and from the most remote places in the world are willing to line up to pray for the answer of their petitions to this very miraculous image of Santo Niñ