Filipinos brought their images of Santo Niño in University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Sunday, the feast day of the Christ Child, where Pope Francis held meetings with religious leaders and representatives of the youth. 

 

Nice Zambrano, along with her husband and daughter, brought three images of the Santo Niño.

 

"Gusto ko sana ma-bless niya (Pope), pero kahit nga matignan lang niya okay na sa akin," she told GMA News Online.
 

Ilan sa mga nagdala ng imahe ng Sto. Niño sa UST kanina. @gmanews #BlessedByThePope pic.twitter.com/5nhXhE9khg

— Kathryn Mae Tubadeza (@kayetubadeza) January 18, 2015

 

According to Zambrano, she went to Manila Cathedral on Friday where the Pope celebrated his first mass in the Philippines.

 

"Hindi ako na-kontento, ang layo kasi niya noon,  kaya pumunta ulit ako dito sa UST, baka mas malapit ko na siya makita," she said.

 

Some raised their images of Santo Niño as soon as the Pope arrived in the oldest existing university in Asia.

 

Several feasts, including the colorful Sinulog in Cebu, are held in the Philippines in January in honor of the Christ Child.

 

The 78-year-old Pope met with 10 leaders of different religions at the university's Arch of the Centuries and some 24,000 youth sector representatives at the UST grandstand on Sunday morning. — JDS, GMA News