San Juan City declares St. John the Baptist as patron saint

The city of San Juan on Monday, and in time for the annual Wattah Wattah Festival, officially declared St. John the Baptist as its patron saint.

According to Bam Alegre’s report on BaliTanghali, city residents trooped to the Pinaglabanan Shrine to join the traditional water dousing, which was part of the day-long festivities for the Feast of St. John the  Baptist.

However, the local government set a limit on water consumption and only deployed three fire trucks for this year's celebration due to the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

Nevertheless, locals enthusiastically celebrated the festival.

“Masaya kasi ito, itong malaking blessing para sa St. John the Baptist…May dala nang pamalit. Ready na talaga,” a resident said.

Meanwhile, a Holy Mass was held before the start of the Wattah Wattah for the patron saint declaration. A Misa Mayor will be celebrated at 5 p.m. — Sundy Locus/DVM, GMA Integrated News