Bocaue remembers 1993 pagoda tragedy

Marga Deona

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Bocaue remembers 1993 pagoda tragedy
More than two decades after Bocaue's floating sanctuary turned into a watery grave, the grand pagoda of the Wawa River is back

BULACAN, Philippines – For the townsfolk of Bocaue, the Wawa river that cuts through the heart of Bulacan is sacred. It is the Ganges of the Bulakenyo, where children and adults alike bathe in its swells, in tides high and low, a practice said to cleanse the human soul of the stain of sin.

Locals say that in the 1800s, a cross was found by the banks of Wawa in the thick of Hispanic occupation in the Philippines. Hence, the Bocaue River Festival, held annually every first Sunday of July in honor of the Holy Cross – the Mahal na Poon ng Krus sa Wawa.

Year after year, decade after decade, Bocaue built a grand pagoda that would float along the Wawa. On top of the 20-foot pagoda would be the Holy Cross – or a replica of it – found along the Wawa banks.

Bocaue pulled all the stops for this year’s feast. With Tropical Storm Egay pummelling north Luzon, the tide was high and the rain relentless. But the festival continued, with the pagoda gracing its faithful spectators and devotees with its grandeur on Sunday, July 5.

But in 1993, the floating sanctuary of Bocaue’s Catholic faithful turned into a watery grave, taking almost 300 down with it.

A month-long nightmare

Salesman Arthur Mendoza, 42, is one of the survivors of the 1993 pagoda tragedy. A burly man with a jolly smile, Mendoza’s cheery demeanor belies the accident that nearly claimed his life.

“It was a nightmare,” Mendoza says. “I’d dream of the drowning children and women, frantically screaming ‘My God, My God.'”

The nightmares haunted Mendoza for an entire month. Then 21, he recalls how, despite the terror of seeing fellow devotees – friends and family included – drown to their death, he managed to stay afloat.

“At that time I was in a state of shock,” Mendoza says. “But I struggled to maintain presence of mind and restrained myself from panicking.”

Mendoza clung on to pieces of wood and drifted afloat until he reached the river bank. “I was shaking and paralyzed in terror,” he says. “Day and night after that, the screams of the dead would haunt my dreams.”

An act of faith

On the year after the Bocaue pagoda tragedy, festivities scaled down. From a 20-foot structural mammoth, the pagoda shrank to a float just large enough to carry the image of the town’s patron saint and the likeness of the Holy Cross.

For two decades, the town mourned the death of the devotees, opting to commemorate the Bocaue River Festival in more austere measures. But in 2014, Bocaue decided to move forward.

“We want to move on from the tragedy that hit us in 1993,” says Renan Eusebio, barangay captain of Taal, Bocaue. “We want to commemorate the martyrdom of the devotees that died and remember them for their unwavering faith.”

And so, the grand pagoda of the Holy Cross returned to the Wawa River in full splendor, gilded in turquoise and gold like a crown layered three times over.

Safety in splendor

Eusebio hopes the fluvial parade will be back in full fanfare, but Bocaue is taking it one year at a time.

“We come prepared,” Eusebio says. “We’ve got everything covered this time around. We have lifevests for everyone, we control the pagoda guests, we have the Coast Guard, the police, the military to make sure this never happens again.”

Mendoza says he is free of the ghosts of 1993, with the help of family and fervent prayers. 

“This is something I’ve been doing since I was 10,” Mendoza says. “This is my devotion, my spiritual commitment, and I will continue riding the pagoda along the river until the day I die. I owe the Holy Cross my second lease at life, after all.” – Rappler.com

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Marga Deona

Marga leads digital and product management for Rappler’s multimedia expansion. Sometimes, she writes about the intersection of technology, culture, and business, as well as the occasional sports and music features.