Text and photos by CHERRY JOY VENILES
RAINS have started to come, signaling the end of summer, but that didn’t stop the holding of the Santacruzans as culminating event of Flores de Mayo.
Sagat, in the working class district of Paco, Manila, was vibrant last Sunday with the holding of the annual Santacruzan.
Flores de Mayo or SantaCruzan is considered the merriest and most colorful of Philippine festivals. Practiced by both the Catholic and Aglipayan churches in the Philippines, it’s in honor of Helena of Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), mother of Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor in from 306 to 337, for finding the cross where Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem.
Held annually in the warm month of May, the Santacruzan is preceded by nine day novena and flower offerings to the Virgin Mary with the supplication for rains in order that farmers can start planting rice.
Every town, barrio and the busy streets of the metropolis takes a fiesta atmosphere with colorful buntings. People gather along the streets to watch the Santacruzan, which has become a fashion show. In more affluent cities, the sagalas ride lavishly-decorated floats.
The sagalas are the young and prettiest ladies handpicked and escorted by young gentlemen. The participants are usually arranged according to age, height and beauty. Each pair under a bamboo canopy decorated with flowers march through the busy streets accompanied by a brass band, the Knights of Columbus and the Barangay Police in their colorful garb.