TOL VIEWS Senator Francis Tolentino Perhaps next to the Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, the Santo Niño is the most revered and venerated religious image in the Philippines.  Hundreds of parishes in the country, or maybe even more, have been named after the Holy Child Jesus, and millions of believers have always kept their trust and hope in the healing, redeeming, grace-filling power of the Santo Niño. Our religious history is replete with innumerable accounts of how the Santo Niño stood as a pillar of strength and hope for both individuals and communities challenged by war, drought, illnesses, and such other maladies that strip people of life, freedom, peace and joy.  In many ways, then and now, the Holy Child is a source of light, faith and inspiration. The most notable feast celebrated in honor of the Santo Niño in the Philippines is perhaps the Sinulog Festival of Cebu.  Drawing devotees as well as local and foreign tourists, the most recent Sinulog Festival last Jan. 15 pulled an estimated two million people into merry making and thanksgiving in the streets of the Queen City of the South, Cebu City. But more than the loud chants, the music, the dances and the colorlful costumes, the Sinulog Festival highlights the unifying power of the Santo Niño – bringing people from all races, genders, colors, walks of life – and keeping them closely knit into a fabric of faith and prayer. For more than five centuries, Filipino devotees of the Santo Niño have been kept under the mantle of the Holy Child’s providence, guidance and protection.  The strength and resiliency we Filipinos take pride in are perhaps attributes partly drawn from the religious faith and devotion we firmly grip in adverse, distressful and threatening situations.  While the Santo Niño is similarly revered in some other countries of the world such as in Mexico, Spain and Colombia, among others, nothing perhaps equals the reverence and devotion that Filipinos commit to the Santo Niño.  For whatever reason we implore the Santo Niño’s help and intervention, be it from a simple plea to pass examinations to the most earnest prayer for deliverance from illness and death, what is clearly evident is that our life of faith is anchored on the Holy Child and His divine power to bring our invocations to His heavenly Father. Our many feasts and celebrations in honor of the Santo Niño take deeper and greater meaning when we keep our faith child-like that is, fully entrusting our life as a family and as a nation to the mercy and goodness of God.  I join the whole nation in prayer and thanksgiving for the grace and guidance of the most Holy Child, Señor Santo Niño. Viva Pit Señor!