A day after a fire burned the Santo Niño de Pandacan Parish in Manila, authorities are still looking for the centuries-old image of the Child Jesus after it went missing following the hour-long fire.
(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso told reporters after visiting the burned church that it is his personal priority to locate the image.
"The city will extend assistance to cleaning the rubbles and the main objective is to find the Santo Niño ," he said.
"'Yun muna . Then next step, how are we going to participate as a citizen—not as a mayor but as a community member—to revive the church in our own little way," he added.
Senior Supt. Gerrandie Agonos, Manila fire marshal, said in a text message that they are still investigating the incident but are considering "electrical fire due to short circuit" as the cause of the blaze.
He added that the image of the Santo Niño might have already been reduced to ashes.
"Yung image ay gawa sa kahoy kaya maaring kasama na ito sa natupok sa sunog (The image is made of wood so it's possible that it was among those that were burned)," he said.
The fire that reportedly started at 1:05 p.m. on the convent’s second floor reached third alarm by 1:19 p.m. It was contained around 2:15 p.m.
The altar and the benches inside the parish were burned, while the image of the Black Nazarene and those of the saints were charred.
Agonos said that when firefighters arrived in the area, the blaze was already big.
"Nakita sa loob na talagang ang nito ay gawa sa kahoy. Ang kisame gawa sa kahoy. Kaya di makakaila na pagdating ng bumbero natin malaki na 'yung apoy [Most of the materials were made of wood. Even the ceiling is made of wood. When firefighters arrived, the fire was already big)," Agonos told reporters Friday.
A witness interviewed by GMA News said that firefighters tried to save the image of the Santo Niño but failed when the fire spread quickly following the explosion reportedly of a gas tank.
The image of the Santo Niño, a child Jesus, is important to residents of Pandacan whom they honor every third Saturday of January through the Buling-Buling Festival.
Buling-Buling is a festival of street dancing where the celebrants dance along the streets of Pandacan, accompanied by marching bands. It is also part of Manila's cultural identity.
Moreno said that he and other concerned individuals would "be participating in the reconstruction of the Pandacan Church" but assured the public that he would not get funds from the local government's coffer.
"We cannot spend government money in churches and all other things that are not part of the government," he said.