DID YOU know that the third oldest image of the Santo Niño (Child Jesus) in the Philippines – over four centuries old – can be found in Iloilo?
That’s right! In particular, it can be found in Arevalo, a district in Iloilo City that was once an independent town and deemed the first Spanish settlement in Iloilo.
According to Reverend Father Clasico Nufable, VF, of the Santo Niño de Arevalo Parish, the wooden image in kingly regalia was brought by Spanish Governor General Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa in 1581 to the town when it as founded as La Villa Rica de Arevalo.
The Santo Niño de Arevalo is now 441 years old – just a few years younger than the Santo Niño de Cebu (1565) and the Santo Niño de Tondo in Manila (1572). This interesting fact is not known to many, not even to the Ilonggos.
Why?
Arevalo celebrates its fiesta in honor of the Santo Niño de Arevalo every third Sunday of January – a week before the staging of Iloilo City’s famous Dinagyang Festival that celebrates the coming of the replica of Santo Niño de Cebu to Iloilo in 1968. Somehow, this may have overshadowed the importance placed by the residents of Arevalo to the Santo Niño de Arevalo and this may have contributed, too, to the faint popularity of the Iloilo-based Santo Niño image.
But that could be changing now, and the Santo Niño de Arevalo Parish is leading the charge.
The Santo Niño de Arevalo Parish Church has been declared an archdiocesan shrine of the Santo Niño that pilgrims can visit.
Just this Jan. 16 when Arevalo marked its fiesta, the Santo Niño de Arevalo was crowned by Jaro Archbishop Jose Romeo Lazo – a sign of the Ilonggos’ great respect and devotion to the Child Jesus.
Reverend Father Nufable considered the Santo Niño de Arevalo as the most handsome in the country, noting its Spanish features. Though the image has brown skin, its carved hair is of blonde color and its eyes are blue.
Santo Niño de Arevalo wears a richly embroidered vestment and a crown. It also holds a scepter and a globe.
MIRACULOUS
Santo Niño de Arevalo is said to be miraculous. There are countless stories about this handed down from generation to generation.
La Villa Rica de Arevalo used to be beset by many attacks from Muslims raiders. Arevalo was once a shipyard, the Muslims tried hard to capture the town. Every time they were sighted in their vintas, the church bells were rung as a warning to the natives.
On one occasion, the Villahanons upon seeing several vintas approaching the shores placed the image of the Santo Niño on the shore facing Guimaras Island, and prayed for his protection from the hostile invaders. The Muslim raiders were not able to land.
When Father Jose Erarde was the parish priest, people suffered from a long hot summer, farmers were hopelessly waiting for the rain. The good Father Jose and some devotees carried the Santo Niño in a procession along the shores with fervent prayer for rain. Indeed, that very afternoon it started to rain.
In January 1948 a powerful earthquake hit Iloilo. In nearby Oton town, the church crumbled. In Jaro, the church’s belfry got toppled. In Arevalo, the church’s belfry got almost toppled from its base. However, an unusual thing was observed inside the church. The day before, the Santo Niño was placed on a tall frail pedestal in the middle of the altar in preparation for the town fiesta. The pedestal was surrounded by some potted plants on shorter pedestals. The morning after the earthquake, the sacristan saw that the potted plants and candles and the flowers and the vases were all scattered on the floor. But to his amazement, the Santo Niño stood on a tall frail pedestal unmoved.
According to Father Nufable, devotees reported of being healed from sickness, of childless couple finally having babies, etc.
“Kadamo gid ya sang stories nga very touching, real stories with the Santo Niño,” said Nufable.
Last year when cases of coronavirus disease 2019 surged, devotees prayed to the Santo Niño de Arevalo for protection./PN
