This is my 13th year of being an active member of the Sto. Niño de Malolos Foundation, Inc. (SNdMFI) and for being a devotee of the Sto. Niño . While these have been the case, my familiarity with the Sto. Niño devotion in the City of Malolos happened much earlier, roughly two decades ago, when my mother would gladly accompany me at the Casa Real where the annual exhibit of Sto. Niño images was held in yesteryears. Two decades after, it was as if destiny that I would be given a chance to become my own Sto. Niño devotee when I was invited by a friend of mine to join the exhibit in January 2009 at the Museo Diocesano de Malolos . At first, I was just an ordinary exhibitor and spectator of the annual festivities until one day when I was requested by Angel V. Tantoco, Jr. , the recamadero of the Sto. Niño de Malolos and whom we fondly call Tito Ulay , to spearhead the annual newsletter of SNdMFI. I gladly took the role without much expectation. At present, I could say that my devotion to the Sto. Niño has grown substantially. It has deviated from the notion of mere pageantry and sense of nostalgia as I have become familiar with various stories of faith, miracles, healing, charity, camarederie and friendship.
Roots of Sto. Niño devotion in Malolos
Before the passing of historian and production designer, Benjamin Basilidez Bautista or simply Tito Dez , I was fortunate to have spent many occasions and private times with him whether at his home in Malolos, restaurants or cafes. I was introduced to him by Danny Raymundo , who served as one of the hermanos mayores for the Sto. Niño de Malolos fiesta in 2011. The long conversations we had back then gave me a chance to have a holistic view of the Sto. Niño devotion, particularly in Pariancillo, where this devotion started.
In Bulacan, it was the Augustinian missionaries who introduced the Sto. Niño devotion. Almost all towns in the province have a visita (chapel) or parish dedicated to the Holy Child. Popular examples are the Sto. Niño devotions in Hagonoy, Sta. Maria, Meycauayan, Paombong and Bustos. When one talks of the Sto. Niño devotion in Malolos, all roads lead to the historic barrio, Barangay Sto. Niño , also known as Pariancillo or Kamestisuhan , as the area is primarily known, especially in the past, for an array of large bahay na bato dwellings and for its fabled residents who came from a line of Sangleys that intermarried with the natives as early as the 18th century. At the end of this barrio was once the original visita dedicated to the Sto. Niño . It was made of adobe stones and stood on the property of the Jacinto family. This is now the area where the Mormon church resides. Unknown to many people, the original image of the Sto. Niño de Malolos that used to be enthroned in the said visita was not the image we are most familiar with today, but a smaller image with an ivory head and hands, which was now converted to Sto. Niño de Tondo . This image is presently under the custody of Mrs. Ching Tantoco-Lopez .
The present image of the Sto. Niño that we fondly attribute as the Sto. Niño de Malolos is a wooden image that, as per Tito Dez, was probably commissioned in the late 19th century. The said image was commissioned by the family of +Francisca Tantoco and supervised by a relative who was a priest. In fact, there are two surviving documentations that would support the cult of the Holy Child in Kamestisuhan : an old photo in 1919 showing the festejado image in front of the Botica de Sto. Niño , which was owned by + Basilia Tantoco , Francisca’s sister; there is also a paper written at the back of the image stating “Contibujentes de altar del Sto. Niño” (contributors to the altar of the Holy Child) dated 1921. In the 1950s, the image was inherited (or presumably transferred) by + Felisa Tantoco from Francisca.
Tito Dez recounts how his parents and grandparents celebrated the fiesta of the Sto. Niño before the war. Ladies were said to be regally dressed in Balintawak , while the gentlemen in camisa de chino and red pants. The barrio flickered with lights as the grand houses lining the area opened up its doors and windows to the gentle breeze of January. Back then, the Sto. Niño fiesta in Kamestisuhan was unrivaled. When the war came, everything started to change: the once lively fiesta became a thing of the past, the visita was left delapidated and eventually demolished by the Jacintos, and the fiesta celebrations of the nearby barrio, San Vicente, overshadowed the one in Kamestisuhan . When almost everyone thought that the Sto. Niño fiesta would be forgotten in oblivion, + Dr. Luis Santos , who was a force to reckon with at the time and who had personally experienced the festivities in the old days, gradually revived the forgotten religious tradition. In 1966, Dr. Santos sponsored a mass in honor of the Sto. Niño in his sprawling residence. A procession was also conducted and the famous Banda Republica , a brass band, provided the festive music. The simple fiesta ended by distributing candies and cookies to children.
A new era for the Sto. Niño devotion
The efforts of Dr. Luis Santos in reviving a forlorn tradition were not in vain. On 8 December 1968, Felisa transferred the custody of the Sto. Niño to +Dr. Angel Tantoco, Sr . With the help of his son, Tito Ulay, who was clearly interested in preparing the image for its annual fiesta, eventually assumed the role of recamadero , especially when Dr. Tantoco passed away in the 1990s. Between 1969 and 1974, a mass and procession were conducted in honor of the Sto. Niño . In 1974, a series of meetings were attended by the relatives and friends of Tito Dez and Tito Ulay that paved the way for an informal association to be established. This was also the time when they coined “ de Malolos ” after the title of the Sto. Niño to make it quite distinct from other Sto. Niño devotions in the country. The year was also pivotal as the preparations for a grander fiesta the following year were polished.
By 1975, the association organized the first known Sto. Niño de Malolos fiesta in modern times. Doña Julita Adriano vda. de Santiago and Doña Zenaida Tengco served as the first Hermanas Mayores. Tito Dez adds that it was during this year when he first saw the improvements in the floral decorations on the carroza of the Sto. Niño as the custom before was to simply decorate it with potted plants. In addition, two traditions had been introduced that year: other images of the Holy Child belonging to relatives and friends of Tito Dez and Tito Ulay joined the procession, while the annual fiesta was also moved permanently to the last Sunday of January.
As for the first Sto. Niño exhibit in the Philippines, it was an idea conceived by +Rev. Fr. Miguel Paez , not yet a priest then, who thought that it would be a good way to promote the Holy Child devotion. In 1978, the pioneering Sto. Niño exhibit was staged at the Palacio Presidential or the Immaculate Conception Cathedral Convent . Given the rising number of participating images, the exhibit was transferred at the Casa Real in 1985 until 2001. With the inception of the Museo Diocesano de Malolos located at the Barasoain Shrine Complex, the annual exhibit was later on moved to the diocesan museum in 2002. Originally, the annual Sto. Niño exhibit has five halls: the Hermanos Hall where the Sto. Niño of past and present hermanos mayores are placed; the Marian Hall , which was a brainchild of the late +Rei Gana Nicolas . This is where Sto. Niño images with Marian affinities are exhibited; Hiyas ng Bulacan Hall or Governor’s Hall is where the Sto. Niño image under the care of the incumbent governor is enthroned; Hall of Native Devotion consists of popular titles of the Sto. Niño found in various localities, which is under the patronage of Butch Garcia until today; and the Hall of Popular Devotion that exhibits Sto. Niño images with appellations that mix with folk beliefs or the owner’s occupation.
When the exhibit was moved to the Museo Diocesano de Malolos, two more halls were introduced. First is the Hall of Patrons that works as an extension of the Hermanos Hall, which is sponsored annually by production designer Mario Aniceto Sumera . Second is the Munting Sto. Niño Hall , which is technically a cabinet of curiosities that contains rare and miniature images of the Holy Child normally crafted in ivory. This is sponsored by James Yee every year. In 2019, the names of certain halls were permanently changed: the Hall of Popular Devotion became the Sagrada Familia Hall ; the Marian Hall assumed the title Hall of the Virgin Mary ; and the Hall of Native Devotion was changed to the Hall of St. Joseph . In recent years, there were at least 300 participating Sto. Niño images in the annual exhibit and many of these also join the procession during fiesta day.
The most significant expression of faith and piety toward the Sto. Niño was the establishment of a new visita that would become the center of the Holy Child devotion not only in Malolos, but in the entire province of Bulacan. In 1991, the Templete de Sto. Niño was finally erected and inaugurated through the generous support of various devotees. The Jacinto-Lomotan family donated the parcel of land where the visita now stands. The Bautistas sponsored the baroque retablo (reredo) while the Tantocos commissioned the images of Nuestra Señora del Carmen and San Jose , which were an earlier work of sculptor Wilfredo Layug . More so, the Lopezes donated the marble flooring, the roof and steel works came from the Jacintos , and the altar table was through Mrs. Fe Lomotan . Finally, the seed money for the construction came from the funds raised by Doña Zenaida Tengco . Through the years, various improvements, renovation works and beautification projects are consistently done for the visita and these are possible because of the generosity of past and present hermanos mayores . Scratching the surface of this visita , it has become a sanctuary of prayer where cries for help are answered through physical and spiritual healing. Most importantly, the chapel is a testament to the special relationship of devotees with the Lord through the Holy Eucharist, especially during first Fridays when devotees would gather for the recitation of the rosary and to hear mass.
Since the revival of the festivities in modern times, the Sto. Niño de Malolos fiesta follows a distinct set of proceedings. The weeklong fiesta starts with the panaog rites, which happen on the first day of novena. In the panaog , the image of the Sto. Niño will be brought in procession from the home of the Tantoco family to the Templete de Sto. Niño where the image is enthroned. This ritual is unique in two ways: first, the procession stops at the old City Hall and the incumbent mayor would pay homage to the Holy Child; second, it winds through a cute alley called Tampoy as a form of courtesy to its residents given that the district is out of route during the fiesta procession. Three days after, normally on the third Sunday of January, three special events transpire. Before the novena mass, it is customary for the foundation to give honorary awards to distinguished members who tirelessly shown exceptional devotion to the Holy Child and the organization. After the awarding ceremony and the novena mass, a short procession commences going to the Museo Diocesano de Malolos for the opening rites of the annual Sto. Niño exhibit. A testimonial dinner for the members and esteemed guests is held afterwards, which is sponsored by the present hermanos mayores .
Come the ninth and last day of novena called visperas , the dapit procession is held. Brass bands would do the pasyo and walk around different barrios near the visita . As the bands pass along a residence or a calle with a carroza bearing an image of the Sto. Niño , these would then follow the bands going to the templete where the final novena mass is said by the chaplain of the foundation. The night will end through the conduct of the traslacion where all the carrozas that joined the dapit earlier would accompany the image of the Sto. Niño de Malolos to the cathedral. The image will stay there for the rest of the night as an act of homage to the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception. During the last Sunday of January, the fiesta proper, a special mass in the morning is said for children in the visita and a procession, which is coined prusisyon ng mga bata , will happen shortly after the mass. Like the old days, the procession will end by giving candies and cookies to all children. By mid-afternoon, the highlight is a high mass in honor of the Sto. Niño de Malolos presided by the incumbent bishop in the cathedral. A long procession commences, which is graced by more than 200 carrozas . The annual fiesta ends during the first Friday of February when a new set of hermanos mayores for next year’s festivity is installed.
The Sto. Niño de Malolos Foundation
From being an informal association in 1974, the founding individuals and members decided to formalize the organization by elevating it to the status of a legitimate foundation that is duly recognized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Thus, in 2003, the organization is formally known as the Sto. Niño de Malolos Foundation, Inc. (SNdMFI) . Many individuals might ascertain that the foundation is only active during the Sto. Niño festivities, but this is clearly a misconception. In fact, it is an organization with a mission. Aside from propagating the Holy Child devotion, the ministry of the foundation lies with three tenets: preserve religious customs, nourish the spirituality of its members and associates, and to help in nation-building.
SNdMFI strives hard to sustain all the religious traditions that have been part of the identity of the Sto. Niño festivities including the annual exhibit, novena masses, misa mayor and processions (e.g., panaog , dapit , prusisyon ng mga bata , fiesta procession). The foundation also adopted the Hermanidad de la Virgen Maria in 2016, which is the organizing body overseeing the Flores de Mayo (Bulaklakan) activities in the month of May. In March 2021, the Cofradia de San Jose under the stewardship of SNdMFI was also established with the aim of propagating the devotion to St. Joseph. Spiritually, more than the novenas, recollections, pilgrimages and liturgical services conducted in the visita , the foundation is responsible for bringing children closer to God by sponsoring the first Holy Communion of at least 700 public school students in Malolos every first Friday of December. This has become an annual tradition that is almost as old as the organization. In 2020, the then hermanos mayores made sure that the Sacrament of Reconciliation would be available for devotees before the novena masses and they also introduced the practice of the Holy Hour , which continues until today. In order to elevate the liturgy, the heirs of +Dr. Angel Tantoco, Sr. commissioned the Misa Sto. Niño de Malolos and produced by +Jorge Allan Tengco in 2018. The compositions in the album were a genius of Prof. Alejandro Consolacion II.
Finally, SNdMFI is dedicated to uplift the lives of the marginalized. Aside from the personal socio-civic engagements of its members, the foundation has been active in giving out scholarship grants to deserving students. Medical and dental missions are also conducted through the years. Donations are constantly given to selected charities. In May 2020, instead of focusing their funds on the usual festivities for the Flores de Mayo , the then hermanos mayores , the family of Col. Manny Lukban , opted to conduct a donation drive for the people in Barangay Sto. Niño that have been economically affected due the ongoing lockdown. More than 100 individuals benefited from this project.
Through the efforts and dedication of Jose Edwin V. Maclang , president of SNdMFI, the organization is committed in propagating further the devotion to the Sto. Niño de Malolos and in delivering the three tenets with efficacy. As Rev. Fr. Vicente V. Lina, Jr. once said regarding the Sto. Niño devotion in Malolos, “Too much is not enough for God!”
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In loving memory of +Benjamin Basilidez Bautista, one of the founding fathers of the Sto. Niño de Malolos Foundation, Inc. and to all posthumous members who offered their lives in loving the Sto. Niño
*Photo documentation courtesy of the archives of Manuel V. Castro, SNdMFI, Christopher Cunanan, Romain Lazaro, Jan Robin Rodriguez, Basilica Minore de la Inmaculada Concepcion and Arte Sacra Ph
*No part of this article is to be published without the written consent of Arte Sacra Ph .
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