Legends of the Sto. Niño de Cebu

(Part 1)

Manuel Enriquez dela Calzada originally wrote this in Cebuano, it was translated into English by Martin Abellana. It was published in 1965. It was Consuelo Enriquez-Uy, a descendant of the Dela Calzada, who donated copies of the book to the Cebu City Library.

Numerous entries on the legends of the Sto. Niño de Cebu is contained in the book. CEBUpedia is running a series of selected stories in the book, with the hope that the Cebu City government, in coordination with the family of Manuel Enriquez dela Calzada, will reproduce the book so it can be distributed to the public schools in Cebu City.

“THE CASE OF PIYONGAN, THE BLIND MAN

“One of those baptized by Padre Pedro Valderama on April 24, 1521 was a man named Piyongan. He was called Piyongan because he always closed his eyes. Naturally he should because he was blind. His Christian name was Longino.

“Since he heard of the healing power of the Image of the Holy Child, every day he went to the palace of King Humabon to pray before the Holy Image. Morning, noon and night he was there praying and imploring the Holy Image to make him see. Every time he went to the palace, he needed no guide for he could find his way unerringly. He could not see, it was true, but his sense of smell was strong as well as his sense of hearing.

“One day as he was on his way to the palace, his sense of smell told him that someone was approaching him. The scent that he smelled was sweet mixed with the odor of medicine. Soon his sense of hearing told him that the person approaching him was a few meters away from him, ‘Can you now see?’ To which Longino replied, ‘No, I still cannot see.’

“From the voice he heard, Longino believed that the man he met was an old man and that he was a medicine man.

“‘I do not know who you are,’ Longino said, ‘but I know you are a medicine man. Please advise me what to do so I can see.’

“‘I will,’ answered the old man. ‘But first let us go to the palace. I will tell you what to do before the Image of the Holy Child.’” (To be continued)