Archives January 2024

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The contingent from Carcar City, a crowd-favorite in the Sinulog 2024 Festival, did it again.

The troupe won this year’s Ritual Showdown of the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan 2024, beating 15 other contestants from various municipalities, component cities, and highly urbanized cities in Cebu.

Performers from Carcar City took home P3.5 million in cash prize as champions – P3 million from the Capitol and P500,000 from the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI). They also won the Sinulog sa Lalawigan Festival Queen, Best in Costume, and Best Musical Ensemble.

This is the second-consecutive time Carcar City won in the Sinulog sa Lalawigan. In 2023, they also bagged the championship in the Ritual Showdown of the competition.

Meanwhile, Tribu Canamucan from the Municipality of Samboan ruled the streets as they won the Street Dance competition on Sunday.

They too received P1 million in cash prize.

Aside from Carcar City, the other winners of the Ritual Showdown, which took place at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) on Sunday, Jan. 14, were the Tribu Talisaynon – City Of Talisay (2nd place, P2.4 million), Tribu Dagitabnon – City of Naga (3rd place, P1.8 million), City of Mandaue  (4th place, P1.2 million), and Tribu Masadyaon – City of Toledo (5th place, P900,000).

See below the complete list of winners for the Sinulog sa Lalawigan 2024.

RITUAL SHOWDOWN

• Champion (P3.5 million) – City of Carcar
• 2nd place (P2.4 million) – Tribu Talisaynon – City of Talisay
• 3rd place (P1.8 million) – Tribu Dagitabnon – City of Naga
• 4th place (P1.2 million) – City of Mandaue
• 5th place (P900,000) – Tribu Masadyaon – City of Toledo

STREET DANCING

• Champion (P1 million)  – Tribu Canamucan – Municipality of Samboan
• 2nd place (P750,000) – City of Carcar
• 3rd place (P500,000) – Tribu Talisaynon – City of Talisay

SPECIAL AWARDS

• Best Musical Ensemble (P100,000) – City of Carcar
• Best in Costume – City of Carcar

Best in Mayor’s Intro

• 3rd place – Samboan (Dr. Tito Calderon)
• 2nd place – Poro (Gary Rama)
• 1st place (P100,000) – Talisay City (Samsam Gullas)

SINULOG SA LALAWIGAN FESTIVAL QUEEN

• Champion – Carcar City
• 1st runner up – Tribu Malipayon – Municipality of Consolacion
• 2nd runner up – City of Mandaue

Simala Church is the miracle healing church of Cebu devoted to all forms of the Virgin Mama Mary in the uphill area of Lindogon, Sibonga, Cebu, Philippines. A holy place is also known as Our Lady of Lindogon Shrine or the Monastery of the Holy Eucharist. It is one of the best places to meditate and do soul-searching.

Simala is described as one of the most beautiful churches in Cebu and was built by a group of Marian Monks from the Eucharistic Adoration of Pampanga in 1998. From afar, it looks like a castle with the image of the Virgin Mary at the center. The statue reportedly shed tears of blood on her birthday on September 8.

During the dengue fever epidemic that killed many people in the local community, the image first shed tears of blood. The image reportedly shed tears again four more times, with the latest on September 8, 2016. Some say it shed tears for humanity.

Every year, thousands of devotees line up to meet and kiss the Virgin Mary, and the lines can be long, especially during Holy Week.

Birhen sa Simala holds a Eucharistic mass celebration every day at 12:00 noon. The mass starts at 10:30 AM on Saturdays and every 13th of the month.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more Suroy stories.

Visitor Information:

Entrance Fee:

There is no entrance fee.

Simala Mass Schedule for 2023:

Mondays to Fridays: 12 Noon.
Saturdays: 10:30 AM
Sundays: 12 noon and 3:30 PM
13th of the Month: 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM

How to Get There:

By Bus: From the South Bus Terminal in Cebu City, ride a bus to Oslob or Liloan/Santander. The fare is PHP 85. Tell the conductor you will get off at Simala Church crossing. In Simala near 7Eleven, ride a motorcycle or habal-habal to take you to Simala Church. Fare is around PHP20.

By Car: The drive to Simala is a beautiful trip around some of the beautiful coastal highways in the province. You can navigate with Waze or Google / Apple Maps and pin “Simala Church” as your destination. There is a spacious parking space with a fee of PHP20-PHP50 per vehicle.

Simala Shrine is an active place of worship. Please be mindful whenever you plan to visit, especially if you are coming from the nearby beaches or waterfalls. A dress code is strictly required, or you will be refused entry. Please make sure that you are dressed formally. Wearing shorts, sleeveless dresses, tubes, and mini skirts are not allowed. Men must wear pants and decent shirts.

Eating and smoking are prohibited on the holy ground. Excessive noise is discouraged to respect the people who come to pray and meditate.

Candles are available in the monastery for PHP 35 each, which goes to the funding and improvement of Simala Church. You can use these to offer and pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The candles have different colors to represent different wishes:

• Gold: Healing (Good health, Recovery, Spiritual, Family Tree)
• Blue: Perseverance (Employment, Career, Promotions)
• Green: Prosperity and Success (Exams, Study, Financial, Business)
• Red: Love (Friendship, Engagement, Family)
• Violet: Achievement (Plans in life, Journey, Voyage, Struggles, and Endeavors)
• White: Purity (Enlightenment, Guidance, Right Path)
• Yellow: Peace (Courage, Strength, Hope)
• Pink: Thanksgiving and Happiness (Spiritual, Physical)
• Orange: Reconciliation (Sweetheart, Wife, Husband, Enemy)
• Brown: Souls (Forgiveness, Pardon)
• Gray: Deliverance (Bad ways, Bad spirits)
• Cream: Conversion of Faith (Children, Household, Couples)
• Black: Souls (Forgiveness, Pardon)

Location Information:

Simala Church is located in Sibonga, South of Cebu and is around two and a half hours away from Cebu City.