Alfred Dizon
(This
week’s piece is by the Baguio City government information office)
TUBA,
Benguet – The 33rd anniversary celebration of the Shrine of the Brown Madonna
on Oct. 27 officially kicked off the 46th year of the Silahis ng Pasko,
which will be staged this year sans its Santa Claus, Narciso Padilla.
A mass,
native rituals marked the special day as it will also honor Padilla, who died
last March 3 after a massive heart attack. He was 87 years old.
The
shrine at Km. 7 Asin Road in sitio Pacac of Barangay Tadiangan here is a
tourism area and place of worship.
Padilla,
a former Baguio councilor and tourism officer, started developing the area in
1986 and was opened to the public in October of that year after having the 12
foot statue of the Virgin Mary inside the 50 foot deep cavern that is about 35
feet high and 28 feet across.
By
sheer “labor of love”, said son Fritz Gerald, the late Padilla built a casing
with stained glasses, a Santo Nino accompanied the statue, as well as an altar,
candle stands, concrete benches for 60 people, cemented aisle, a 10 foot steel
gate and a 20 foot entry paved with bricks.
The
entrance has also concrete benches as well as a landscaped garden where a
marker has been placed.
At
the entrance, a marker was placed in Dec. 16, 1990 to celebrate those who
helped in the rescue of victims after the July 16, 1990 earthquake.
The
younger Padilla has for two weeks refurbished, cleaned and painted the statue
and fixtures within the shrine for the October 27 celebration of the shrine,
just four days off the birthday of his late father.
The
50-year old Padilla said the shrine will be venue of several of the Silahis ng
Pasko events which will take off on December 1 that will also start the city’s
Enchanting Christmas in Baguio celebration.
The
Children’s Mardi Gras will see more than 4,000 pre-school learners garbed in
Christmas attire in a parade. It is staged in coordination with the City Social
Welfare and Development Office.
On
December 7, the OCSWADO will select the Lucky Christmas Family, an indigent
family who will be given a Christmas package and will be guest during the mass
of Immaculate Conception on December 8 at the Shrine.
A special
Olympics for the blind and paraplegic and concert are slated on December
15. The Lucky Christmas Baby will be selected on December 25 and New Year
Baby on January 1 at the Baguio General Hospital.
On
Dec. 30, the TALA for elderlies and KISLAP awards for the outstanding athletes
will be staged at a hotel yet to be identified.
“ We are introducing improvements
like staging the awards at a hotel instead of the Sunshine Park to protect our
awardees from rain and cold,” the young Padilla said. Last year, rains did not
stop the late Padilla from staging the event at the park with awardees that
included national artist Ben Cabrera and chess GM Eugene Torre as guest.
Calling it
SNP – Legacy, the younger Padilla said he will not let what his late father has
worked so hard to establish and sustain that left him at times penniless.
“I
found out that he only had P11 to his name in his bank and the money he used to
get from my siblings were withdrawn during the SNP programs,” said the young
Padilla.
“He
died literally penniless,” he added.
The
younger Padilla will be donning the Santa costume in most of the events or a
Manila-based nephew who is bigger and heftier.
“We
will continue his works, while also adding new ones but first we have to get
things moving,” added the security consultant.
No comments:
Post a Comment