Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto on Wednesday shared photos of a local festival in his city last year where he joined residents in the traditional dousing of water of “basaan.”
The two throwback photos Sotto shared showed him enjoying spraying of water and being doused with it with residents of Pinagbuhatan, Pasig.
They were then celebrating the Pinagbuhatan Fiesta in honor of Barangay Pinagbuhatan’s parish church patron saint San Sebastian.
A blog of Francis Yumul mentioned that the every January 20, “the usually monotonous streets of Barangay Pinagbuhatan in the City of Pasig converts itself into a vibrant place of merrymaking and festivities.”
“The focal point of the mardi gras like atmosphere in the barangay is always the parish church. January 20 is the feast day of its revered patron saint — San Sebastian,” the blog read.
The blogger cited that aside from the fluvial parade, the residents observe “basaan” “or those water games among the people joining or watching the pagoda.”
Under general community quarantine rules, large social gatherings, including festivals, are still prohibited to prevent the spread of the deadly virus which causes COVID-19.
Religious gatherings, in particular, should only accommodate up to 30% of seating capacity.
READ: Manila churches now allowed at 30% seating capacity
Because of this, Sotto expressed hopes that this tradition would make a return next year.
“Sana next year, puwede na ulit ‘to. Happy Fiesta, Pinagbuhatan!” he said.
The residents greeted Sotto back on Twitter and Facebook, saying that they will wait for him to join their celebration.
Others, meanwhile, noticed that in one of the photos, Sotto appeared to have accidentally stepped on someone’s foot.
A Twitter user even shared zoomed-in screenshots of the photo in question.
Yes yorme! Happy fiesta! HAHAHAHA ✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/lzCaMjMiac
— Hanzupp😍 (@hanzamamo) January 20, 2021
Based on the Facebook page of the San Sebastian Parish, the residents celebrated the annual religious event through a motorcade instead of a procession and a mass celebration.
Prior to the event, the page issued a reminder to the parishioners on minimum health protocols mandated by the health authorities such as wearing face masks and shields outside their homes.
