Sto. Niño devotees gather for Tondo procession

Devotees gathered early Sunday morning in Tondo, Manila for the Feast of Sto. Niño de Tondo, featuring a three-hour procession that began at 3 a.m., road closures, and blessings of Sto. Niño images brought by devotees.

The procession, which started in 1572, included numerous images of the Child Jesus as reported by GMA Integrated News reporter EJ Gomez and featured figures of the Holy Family paraded during its course.

Road closures were implemented to accommodate the event, expected to last three hours around the parish area, with over 7,000 devotees marching in the Maringal na Prusisyon ng Sto. Niño de Tondo.

At the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santo Niño, church deacons blessed Sto. Niño images following a Mass led by Reverend Father Juvelan Samia, while devotees outside observed the mass due to capacity limits inside the church.

The first image of the Sto. Niño arrived in the Philippines in 1564 from Natividad, Mexico and other regions across the country also celebrated their own Sto. Niño festivals, such as Aklan's Ati-Atihan Festival and Cebu's Sinulog Festival.