Manaoag devotees fall due to extreme heat

MANOAG, PANGASINAN—Several devotees of Our Lady of Manaoag fainted and fell on the ground after they were exposed to the 36-degree heat for nearly two hours during the celebration of the centennial canonical coronation of the image at the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan on Wednesday.

One of those who fainted was a senior citizen, ‘Nanay Erlinda’, said she started to queue at around 7 am to personally see the reenactment of the coronation, which was attended by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Marcos.

“Hindi pa po ako nag-almusal. Masyadong mainit. Nabilad kasi kami sa araw,” she told members of the medical team while she was undergoing first aid after fainting under the heat of the sun, joining merely a thousand believers of Our Lady of Manaoag.

Aside from the elderly woman, more than ten others also fell on the ground, who, according to the medical team, suffered from hypertension and low blood sugar.

The medical team apparently lacked wheel chairs and stretchers, prompting the Bureau of Fire Protection to augment medical equipment.

The attendees endured the scorching heat for two hours, while VIPs were inside the well-ventilated church, including the First Couple, Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III, Manaoag, Pangasinan Mayor Jeremy Rosario, Alliance Global Group President Kevin Tan, Pangasinan Governor Ramon V. Guico III, and PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco, among others.

Two-hour mass

Marcos Jr., during the mass, read a prayer during the liturgy as many of the faithful endured sweltering heat to witness the historic commemoration.

Despite the commotion outside, Church officials proceeded with the celebration, which began at 9 a.m. with a Misa Concelebrada held in front of the basilica, long regarded as one of the country’s most venerated pilgrimage sites.

The occasion commemorates the 100th anniversary of the image’s canonical coronation in 1926, a rare honor bestowed by the Vatican.

As part of the rites, the President and the First Lady formally presented ceremonial crowns to Apostolic Nuncio Charles John Brown, representing the Holy See.

The program also featured a reenactment of the historic crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus.

A grand procession of the revered image is set to pass through the streets of Manaoag later in the day.

The celebration, themed “Inán Mariá: Crowned in Grace, Calling Us to Jesus,” underscores the enduring Marian devotion among Filipino Catholics.

The town of Manaoag, whose name is derived from a local term meaning “to call,” traces its origin to accounts of Marian apparitions.

For generations, the image—affectionately called “Ina” by devotees—has drawn pilgrims seeking solace, healing, and divine intercession.