By Leo Udtohan
As of Thursday afternoon, the water level of Loboc River in the area was already at
90 meters above sea level, lower compared to Thursday early morning.
There were 74 families in Barangay Valladolid were evacuated since Wednesday. They were part of the 626 families or 788 individuals evacuated in the province in 18 towns.
Before the water level went down, residents turned to prayer.
Residents placed an image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Extremadura in front of the river at the Museo de Loboc building.
Expressions of religious piety have been practiced in Loboc town as a response to plagues and pandemics even during the arrival of the image on May 24, 1843.
Vir Jala, 50, said they seek comfort in prayer and appeal to God and the saints for mercy and protection from illness and loss of life.
"My parents taught us to seek help from Our Lady," said Jala, a father of three.
The veneration of sacred images and placing them outside the window of a house or a church is a religious expression known as "dungaw” (to look out).
Even passers could not help but look up to the image, and waved to the image.
The devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe originated from the hilly town Guadalupe in Spanish region of Extremadura, close to the Portuguese border.
Church records said the Augustinian Recollect brought the image of the Lady carved from black wood.
Like its Bohol descendant, the Spanish image is dressed like a queen, stands erect, and holds the Child in one arm. Both the mother and child are dark-skinned, and belong to the tradition of the “Black Madonnas” of medieval Western Europe.
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Photo caption:
The image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Extremadura was placed in front of the Loboc River in Loboc after it swells due to inclement weather, known as "dungaw” (to look out) to calm the river. Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas
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