raised the Sto. Niño at the balcony. Then mass on steps of Maharlika. And the great multitude was crying as the procession waded through mud and water Recto Ave., Dagupan (past Rizal Avenue) Sande, then to the church. People joined the procession, lined the streets carrying candles or placing candles on the window sills.
There must have been at least 50,000. And they were mostly in tears.
This faith and spiritual strength is what communism cannot conquer.
I kept repeating to myself—“when one has exhausted the physical resources available, then one must tap the spiritual sources of strength.”
And I do believe in miracles. I have seen too many happen in my lifetime.
The saving from the stabbing was another miracle.
And the waters are receding in Central Luzon and Pangasinan. The rains are less.
Official Gazette for August 2, 1972: THE PRESIDENT and the First Lady led a kilometer-long procession from Malacañang to the Tondo Church, where the recovered image of the Sto. Niño was transferred and reenshrined.
Earlier in the afternoon, the President and the First Lady led thousands of devotees in hearing a Mass said at the porch of the Executive Building, shortly before the image was transferred with a procession, participated in by some 15,000 devotees, to the Tondo Church.
With the First Couple in joining the procession were Mayor and Mrs. Ramon Bagatsing, and some members of the Cabinet.
The President was closeted in his private study the whole morning going over state papers, including the latest reports on relief and rehabilitation work
The first page of this entry [p.2227] is missing for a summary, Ambeth Ocampo, “Flooding and the Santo Niño de Tondo. Philippines Daily Inquirer October 7, 2009.