Ibajay Ati-Ati – a celebration of devotion to Sto. Nino
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

The rolling sea of devotees join the annual Ibajay Ati-Ati while chanting 'Viva kay Senor Sto. Nino Viva!. Many hurled their towels and handkerchiefs to be wiped on the image after the wooden Sto. Nino de Ibajay was transfered from the rectory to the parish church on Saturday noon / PHOTOS BY BOY RYAN ZABAL

IBAJAY, Aklan - Hundreds of devotees and pilgrims flocked to the western town of Ibajay on Saturday to witness the enthronement of Senor Sto. Nino image.
The transfer of Senor Sto. Nino de Ibajay from the Catholic Rectory to the adjacent Parish of Saint Peter the Apostle highlights the weeklong Ati-Ati festival here from January 17 to 23.

Ibajay Ati-Ati has emerged as one of the tourist attractions of the province of Aklan, held a week after the famous Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival. The time-tested devotion, unceasing faith and love to the Sto. Nino, the patron saint of the town of Ibajay, is a must-see event for tourists and balikbayans.

Hours before the transfer of the Sto. Nino, the devotees, bringing with them replicas of the child Jesus, were seen rubbing and touching the Sto. Nino image and dancing the Ati-Ati inside the rectory.

Many believed that their prayers and petitions were answered, sickness or pains healed by the Sto. Nino or childless couples were granted an offspring, for devotees who prayed piosly to the Holy Child.

Outside the rectory, devotees from the barangays of Ibajay and people from all walks of life crowded the main door of the rectory while they danced to the beat of the drums, awaiting the transfer of Sto. Nino to the parish church.

They are waiving their hands in the air, reciting prayers and shouting ‘Viva kay Senor Sto. Nino Viva!’

At 11:45 a.m., the glass-encased image of Sto. Nino de Ibajay was escorted by the devotees, taking him at the nearby Parish of Saint Peter the Apostle.

Once the image enters the church, the worshippers drew closer to the Sto. Nino near the altar and threw their handkerchiefs or towels to men at the front, who wiped them on the glass and throws it back.

The celebration of 'Ati-Ati' dates back to the Spanish colonization in mid-15th century.

A fisherman, living in Sitio Cabotos near Barangay Minaa, went fishing in Ibajay River. 'Hangoe' caught nothing except for the piece of wood, which kept on getting into his net.

He headed home and placed the piece of wood under the stove before he slept. The next day, his wife asked him about his catch. The fisherman replied that he caught a piece of wood.

Hangoe's wife was surprised to find the image of a child in the wood. She went out of their house and let their neighbors see the piece of wood with the face image.

Some folks from neighboring barangays and the parish priest also heard the news. The priest asked the residents of Sitio Cabotos to bring the piece of wood to Boboc-an Church. Legend said that while they are about to bring it, the piece of wood became too heavy, that they have to ask the strongest man in the barangay to carry it.

The parish priest upon seeing the face image of the child exclaimed 'This is God Himself in the image of the Holy Child! For this child’s face looks exactly like the Sto. Nino!”

The priest then had the wood carved, with the couple’s permission, blessed and venerated it in the church.

One day, the priest woke up and found that the Sto. Nino was missing from the altar.

After the desperate search for the wooden Sto. Nino, the faithful were annoyed of the incident.

On that same day in Sitio Cabotos, the Sto. Nino - his feet soiled and his clothes were full of amorsiko, was inside the house of Hangoe.

Afraid that the parishioners might cut off their hands for stealing, the couple returned the wooden statue to the parish priest of Sitio Boboc-an in the afternoon.

By tradition, the devotees painted their faces with black soot, imitated the playful likeness of the Ati to keep the Sto. Nino from leaving the church, coupled with the festive merrymaking with the beating of drums and shouting ‘Viva cay Senor Sto, Nino Viva!’

Old stories said the Sto. Nino miraculously protected the Ibajay town from the bandits and Moro pirates from invasion. The Holy Child, it was told, prevented the invaders from docking their ships along the shoreline of Ibajay.