ILOILO City – Around 8,000 devotees gathered at the San Jose Parish Placer in Plaza Libertad for the annual Grand Religious Sadsad, one of the highlights of the Dinagyang Festival 2025 religious activities. The event, which started at 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 25, was led by Rev. Fr. Raymund Edsel Alcayaga, OSA, and organized in collaboration with the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
The Grand Religious Sadsad began with a prayer and was followed by traditional church music, setting a reverent tone for the procession. Held after the Vesperas Mass, the event gathered the faithful in collective worship of the Holy Child, Señor Santo Niño.
Devotees joined in song and chant, lifting their voices in harmony with cries of “Pit Señor!,” a Cebuano phrase meaning “Sangpit sa Señor!” or “Call to the Lord!” The invocation was a prayerful plea for blessings, health, success, familial strength, and divine protection.
With palms raised in a symbolic gesture of surrender, participants expressed their prayers and desires, chanting “Viva Pit Señor!” in unison.
“The Grand Religious Sadsad is a timeless reminder of the power of collective faith, the strength of tradition, and the enduring spirit of the Ilonggo people,” the Archdiocese of Jaro said in a statement./PN
